A bet
by RusEmp
Summary: Danny got used to the strange stuff. Mind you, he sees dead people daily, not mentioning that he is half of one. But when your friend is a floating dorito, all bets are off.
1. Chapter I: A deal with a Devil

"Yo, DP!"

Danny looked up from the book he was reading to face a familiar person floating towards him. Not everyone will call him a person, though. After all, a one eyed living dorito with a tie and hat, having no mouth but somehow being able to talk more than average person...this isn't what you see daily. If you aren't Phantom.

"Hey, Bill," he said nonchalantly, before returning back to his reading. His tone clearly stated that he wasn't planning on starting the conversation. But Danny knew it was fruitless, it always was. And he was right, Bill ignored his tone yet again and floated closer. Phantom made an interesting assumption - the smaller magical creature is, it becomes equally more annoying. Cypher was quarter his size, which made him four times annoying.

What could be said about Bill? Besides the fact that he breaks the laws of reality by being two-dimensional yellow triangle. An utterly insane maniac, he is. How old he was, Danny guessed that Bill must have been at least older than dollar. The fact that his face is seen more often than presidents on the front side was his personal pride.

What hobbies he has? Tormenting humans in their dreams for the most part, Freddie Krueger wannabe. When Danny mentioned this fact to Mr. Dorito, he actually broke laughing and said that Krueger was his creation, his child, the last thing sounded really weird. Danny was glad that he doesn't need to sleep. Phantom always gave the demon benefit of doubt, since most of his stories were hard to believe. Speaking of, spending time with 'DP' was his another favorite hobbie. He didn't dare to torment anyone in the Ghost Zone, his power was that of a fly there, comparing to the power of ghosts, maybe ectoplasm in the air interfered, but Bill kept telling that he possesses an incredible power out of this world. He once invited Danny for tea, but he politely disagreed.

There were no proves of his power, since Bill was only in four places: his domain, Human World, namely some little town, which name Phantom couldn't recall, and around Phantom himself. However, Danny decided to keep Cypher in check, in case he decides to take over the world. That happened AFTER Bill decided to be Phantom's BFF, without the last one's agreement. Maybe it had something to do with protection, since, again, he has a little to no power in ghosts' world, and hanging around one of the most powerful ones surely grants him that protection.

And though Cypher talked 24/7, Phantom had fun in company of the dream demon. Oh, Skulker will remember what they had done for eternity. It was funny when he wasn't interrupting his personal time. In that moments Danny found Bill's companionship rather annoying and driving to the point of insanity.

"DP!" Bill squealed. If that sound escaping his nonexistent mouth could be considered a squeal, "How you are doing, buddy?"

"Just fine," Danny answered, before getting up from his soft sofa and floating towards the highest bookshelf. He needs to pay a visit to Ghostwriter soon. Phantom glanced back at his friend, "You?"

"Everything is just perfect! I have a new magnificent story for ya!" Danny prepared himself for a story full of insanity. He shuddered inwardly. That story about blood, intrigues, decapitated head and a lot of cheese was stuck in his head for the rest of his afterlife.

"Oh, is that so?" Danny asked curiously, without looking back and picking another book.

"Yeeeep!" Bill flopped on Phantom's black haired head, after becoming smaller in size. Danny would have shaken it in amusement, but his head now had a passenger. Bill didn't weight anything at all, so it wasn't bothering. "Guess what it is about?"

"Hm, let me thiink," Danny said longingly, tapping on his chin with his finger, "It has something to do with that 'Pine tree', am I right?"

"How did you know that?" Bill said pitifully, kicking hair out of the place with his small leg.

"Pal, everything you are talking about lately are about 'Pine tree', 'Shooting star' and other guys with that weird nicknames. I start to feel like I'm being replaced," he said with fake hurt.

"Oh, no need to be such a drama queen, DP, you know I can't help but be entertained by this petty humans. They are so interesting to play with!"

"Dude, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What, I do not...oh. You are half-human, riight, how could I forget. Don't worry, poor soul," he patted Danny on head, "you can always fix this thing..."

"Sorry pal, masochism is your thing, I like myself the way I am," Bill huffed and muttered 'narcissist'. "Now when we talk about this, you have never actually called me by name, why so?"

"Force of habit, I guess," he sighed unenthusiastically, waving his hand and getting in sitting position. Danny meanwhile returned on the sofa with a book in his hand.

"So what's the story?" Bill immediately brightened, if change of the form of his eye was any indication.

"Okaay, where did I stop last time...Ah, yeah. So, the laptop they found in that creepy bunker. Question mark somehow repaired it, but can you imagine? There was a password, a veery long password with eight letters. Pine Tree tried to solve what the password was. And I'm telling you, he couldn't guess it in a million years."

"And what was the password?" Danny asked, turning over the page of the book.

"He, he," ghost teen raised eyebrow, and seeing his confusion Bill continued. "I'm getting to it, buddy, be patient. You know what a kind and generous soul I am, so I offered him a simple solution. I will give him a few tips in exchange for a smaal favor," he showed how small the favor was with his tiny fingers. "The favor was giving me a puppet."

"That already sounds evil," Bill gasped.

"How could you, DP, how could you know me so well?!" He broke out laughing, floating up in the air. "Anyways, Shooting Star got yet another crush, I already added this one to the list of her failed romances," a list appeared in his hands, and glasses, monocle, something in between, appeared as he read, "yep, added. Name is Gabe, handsome, but maybe too girly in my opinion, what guys have a ponytail?" Danny coughed. Bill looked back and saw a low ponytail of black hair. "Stop embarrassing me, DP. You are interrupting. So, looks like Shooting Star has a thing for weirdos, eesh, romance with half fish is something to behold. This time it is a guy obsessed with sock puppets."

"Hm," Phantom agreed, not turning his eyes from the book.

"And Shooting Star lies to him that she is obsessed with puppets as well. And you know what happens in those situations, we both had watched this kind of movies. She convinced Pine Tree so he would help her with making puppets. He agreed, but she kinda forgets about her part of the bargain quite fast. AND THEY DARE TO CALL ME A CHEATER!" He literally became red in anger.

"Cause you are, dude," Danny said before Bill instantly became calm again.

"If I had a mouth there will be a pout, DP."

"Ancients forbid you from having a mouth," Phantom answered sarcastically, turning over the page.

"Changing the topic! So Pine Tree was making puppets at daytime, while trying to crack the password at night. He started to look like a child of coffee and death. He lacked sleep. So I granted him it once he blinked and we had a small chit chat in his dream."

"Why every your phrase must have a double meaning?" Bill ignored Danny's remark.

"Well, I already told you about the offer. Though, being the smart cookie he was, Pine Tree instantly became suspicious. He was still angry at me for trying to blow up his granduncle's mind. Oh don't give me that look, DP. I was bound by the deal I made at the moment, I was merely doing my job. Pine Tree refused my generosity, however. But, he became quite desperate once the laptop threatened to destroy all the files in five minutes. Desperate people do a lot of silly things. When I offered him a tip in exchange for a puppet, he thought I meant one of the sock puppets!"

"And by that you meant him," Danny's lips formed a thin line.

"Oh, that's why I like and hate you, DP, you always see the catch. You are right, by puppet I actually meant him," Phantom shook his head, earning a surprised yelp, as dorito fell off and landed on the sofa face down. He got on his legs and grew up to his usual size. "That was rude."

"Like you are the one to teach me morals, you are in the middle of the story how you tricked and possessed a kid. But...go on."

"Aww, you are such a sweetheart. First thing I did was smashing the laptop so he will not get any information..."

"You could just let the laptop delete those files," Bill raised his finger to argue, but stopped. Danny got the point.

"No arguing here. But smashing things is so funny! Anyways, it felt nice to be in a physical body again. I almost forgot how pain feels. It is hilarious!"

"Haha, if you want, I can beat the crap out of you."

"Eh," Bill sighed sadly, completely missing a sarcasm, "thanks for the offer, buddy, but I can't feel a thing right now. So, Pine Tree's body was so small, it felt awesome slapping him...me...slapping his body I was in. I got bored soon enough, though, so I jumped down the stairs!"

Phantom looked up from his book and stared blankly at the dream dorito. Bill noticed the slight narrowing of his eyes. That long scar over his left pale eye made Phantom look rather intimidating. Bill laughed nervously.

"Can I go on?" He asked in a high voice.

"Get closer to the end," Bill's shoulders sank.

"Okay, there was that fight with Shooting Star, when I tried to burn the journal. Pine Tree interacted with her by possessing his sock puppet," Danny raised his eyebrow. "When I forced him out he became a spirit. That sock puppet was creepy, I even brought it to you!" Bill took out the named puppet and Phantom jumped slightly once he looked at it. Bill was right, this was the most creepy puppet he had seen. "Oh, Bill, you are so smart and so evil geniused," the puppet said. Bill changed his voice, and with the absence of mouth he didn't need to be a ventriloquist. "I know, Pine Tree, no need to state the obvious." Phantom coughed and Bill set the puppet on blue fire, "Noooo!" The puppet screamed in agony, before turning into ash.

"Pine Tree's body was weak," Bill continued his story. "And it exhausted itself rather quickly. It was the weakness they used to...to beat me," a small fake tear came from his eye as he sobbed.

"Congratulations, you were beaten by a thirteen years old kids. Again."

"You are a big meanie Phantom. My pride was hurt that day, but soon, I will avenge my years of..."

"Jeez, you sound like Box Ghost."

"Even if I hate Pine Tree, and he is almost nothing without his journal..."

"Then you were beaten by nothing."

"STOP INTERRUPTING!" He became red again, "Pine Tree is a cunning little thing, and insanely lucky. And with that damned Stanford's journal he becomes smarter as well. He learns the ways to beat us and our species. Heck, he would probably figure out your disguise quickly."

"I don't think so. I fooled an entire world for two years and no one figured out yet. You are just overdramatizing so your defeat wouldn't look so pitiful."

"How dare you," Phantom only shrugged, before getting up and picking up a chalk. "No, you are not getting out so easily," Bill floated in front of his face. I'm NOT overdramatizing! You know what, how about we make a bet," Danny stopped drawing something on the floor and looked up.

"A bet?"

"Yeah, bet that you will be able to maintain your identity in secret from Pine Tree for the rest of the summer," Phantom hummed, continuing his drawing.

"And what's the prize?" He asked.

"If you win, I will stop bothering you when you don't need my entertaining company."

"Hm, sounds good to me. But. What if you win?"

"Well, nothing really, a small, such unimportant little thing, Reality Gauntlet."

"No."

"What? Why, you hate this thing!"

"I do, but only the person as insane as you will let you have it."

"Hm, then maybe you show me that thing you keep in the place no dead or alive will be able to get into?"

Phantom stopped. That was probably even more important than the Reality Gauntlet. However, Danny doubted that Bill will be able to do anything with that thing. After all, Cypher doesn't even know what is in there. Plus, Phantom will certainly benefit from it. Danny looked up and saw that Bill already outstretched his hand for a handshake, with his palm setting on blue fire. He took it and shook.

"Oh, marvelous! Tomorrow I'll show you the way to Gravity Falls, have a good day for now!" Bill let go of Danny's hand, but the ghost teen still held it.

"Now listen here, Bill. You are not allowed in anyway to interfere. You can't tell him, you can't write to him, you can't tell anyone so they will tell that to 'Pine Tree'. You are not allowed to possess anyone to tell him, nor leave any kind of message. You can't create the situations which will force me to reveal myself and you don't appear with me in public," Bill's 'shoulders' anked further and further with every loophole Danny closed. "Got it?"

"Eesh, DP, you really are a party ruiner. Fine," Danny let go of the demon. Bill finally looked on the floor and saw the drawing. "What are you..." he looked up, and to his horror Danny stood there with a special book. "DP..." Phantom grinned toothily.

"Komencu..."

"Don't do this..."

"Eterne..."

"We are friends, aren't we?"

"Demono!" Phantom finished incantation and the drawings glowed with bright green light. Bill started to swirl.

"Aaaaah, I feel like being flushed to the tooooileeet!"

And with that last scream the dream dorito disappeared. Danny grinned triumphantly, before closing the book and looking down. He needs to clean up the floor.

A.N. Read 'A tedious friendship with a dream dorito'. I got my inspiration from there.


	2. Chapter II: City Boy arrives

"Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty!"

Danny's eyes abruptly snapped open, before a green blast erupted from his hand in the direction of the sound. Danny heard a loud surprised yelp by his side. He sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"Flames between, Cypher, how much times I need to tell you not to sneak up on me when I'm meditating?"

Bill extinguished a small green flame on his top with two fingers.

"Well excuse me, but you weren't moving for, like, five HOURS."

"Well, it's just the technique...now wait a second...you were watching me for five darn hours?"

"Seven," Bill muttered, before regaining his composure. "Your furry pets almost got me twice. That's not very nice. Wow, step aside Shakespeare, a new poet has arrived!"

"'Not very nice' is spying over me," Danny got up from a small carpet and fixed his clothes, consisting blue torn jeans and black T-shirt. "And for the note, they are not my 'pets', they are just friends who let me stay with them."

"You mean worshipping you?" Danny stopped on his tracks for a moment, before shrugging.

"I guess that too. So, is it time to go?"

"Yeep. I hope you..." Danny situated a duffelbag on his shoulder, "packed your belongings. When did you..."

"That's called duplication, my friend, duplication."

"No, that's called lazyness."

"Call it whatever you want," Danny put on the black jacket as Bill situated on his head again, and opened the door.

It was a peaceful day in FarFrozen. If not for the typical black and green abyss in the sky, this village, inhabited by a race of huge ghost yetis, would have looked like typical countryside somewhere in Canada or Iceland. Some small kids were doing snow activities, while adults were doing their casual business. All of them, however, cheerfully greeted the ghost teen. Of course they will.

He is their hero and protector. Even if FarFrozen tribe was not the one to be messed with, as they were the most powerful users of an Ice Core, no one was willing to attack them after Phantom started to live there. It was beneficial for Danny as well. Vlad would have searched all across the Human World for him, but yeti ghosts were really protective of their hero. So they protected each other.

It was unbelievable how much his life had changed in only half of the year. Back then his biggest concern was not to fail the latest exam due to the lack of sleep and time for studying. Now he had plenty of time. And most of it he spent either in books, trainings or meditation. The last thing was for keeping his psychic in check, this technique was taught to him by Clockwork in order to avoid horrible depression and repeating the same mistakes. One mistake held inside Fenton Thermos was enough.

Danny couldn't leave without saying goodbye. And most of the folk were in the Mess Hall at thatbtime. Why was it called like that? Well...

"Duck!" Danny did as was told. But Bill still sat on his head, and he hadn't had a possibility to avoid being hit by a medium-well fried steak. He yelped loudly in surprise and Phantom had to choke his laugh. Bill was floating in the air with a deadpan expression and the steak slowly slipping down and falling on the floor, leaving a brown line.

Ah, food fights, that was mostly the reason Danny often just took the food and ate at home.

"Great One!" Phantom turned to the side and grinned. There was a tall ghost with a hand made entirely out of ice and dressed in blue and yellow robe.

"Morning, Frostbite," Danny said, before looking at Bill, "You ok, dude?"

"Besides being hit by a piece of a dead cow, I'm fine," he summoned a handkerchief and wiped the fat line from his body.

"That wasn't a cow," Frostbite said with a raised eyebrow.

"Then I don't want to know what the heck that was, Fluffy," Frostbite narrowed his eyes and Bill hid behind Danny's back.

"You are allowed here only because Great One lets you, don't forget about this, Cypher."

"Got it," Frostbite nodded, before smiling again and looking up at Danny, noticing a dufelbag over his shoulder.

"You are planning on going somewhere?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, the rest of the summer I'll spend in a god forgotten small town in..." Phantom looked at Bill, who was sitting on his head again. "Where exactly is it?"

"Good ol' Oregon," Bill answered. Frostbite's eyebrows shot up.

"In a Human World? Great One, are you sure about this decision?"

"Yep, just imagine, Bill will be coming twice rarer."

"Don't say 'voila' before jumping over the canyon, DP. You hadn't won our bet yet."

"So HE is involved in it?" Frostbite glared at Bill, crossing his hands. Danny raised his hand.

"Look, Frostbite, I REALLY appreciate your worry, but I'll be fine. Vlad will never search for me there, and the GIW are disbanded since I blew up the portal and ghosts stopped coming there," Frostbite's look softened, but he still was glaring at the demon on top of Danny's head. The tribe Chief then sighed.

"Very well, we will watch over your house and call you if something happens."

"Thanks, Frostbite," Danny smiled, outstretching his hand, which Frostbite eagerly took in strong grip and shook. "I mean it," they heard a loud sneeze by the side.

"Oh, sorry," Bill threw away the handkerchief. "Such a drama!" Danny sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Come on," he grabbed the floating dorito's hand and carried Bill after him.

-Later-

It wasn't hard for Bill to do some mumbo jumbo and make a portal where needed. They were near a road. A huge forest of thick trees was surrounding them.

"Bill," Cypher turned to him, "Let's get the details how it will be done. You win only if Pine Tree states what I am right into my face. Got it?"

"Jeez, no need to be such a bureaucrat, maybe you need a five written copies of agreement?" A stack of paper appeared in his hands.

"I'm just making sure you won't cheat. You know I hate when someone does that," Bill rolled his eye.

"I hope you brought anything useful in that bag," Danny put it on the ground and unzipped it. "You must be kidding me."

"What? I brought useful things."

"Yeah? Why do you need an ectogun, you have one built in!" Bill threw up his hands in exasperation.

"BUT I can't shoot by myself in public. And Fenton Thermos can be useful, too," Cypher then noticed something under pack of clothes. Something oddly familiar...

"WHAT THE..."

"What is it?" Phantom asked.

"Why, pray tell, YOU HAVE THE JOURNAL IN YOUR BAG!" He took out the red book with a golden six-fingered hand on cover and glared at Danny.

"It's a copy," he shrugged.

"What?"

"Being friends with Ghostwriter can be useful. You told me about the journals so much, and since I came here, I need to know about all the creatures living in that town. GW has a copy of every written thing in existence, starting from Valentines letters, ending with the first version of Bible. He lend me a copy of the journal." Bill was still glaring. "Relax, dude. I swear Pine Tree will never get it. Once I'm done I will return it to Ghostwriter, okay?"

"You are lucky I'm forgiving person, DP," Bill deadpanned and returned the book. Phantom may be as tricky as him, but he ALWAYS keeps his promises. Unlike him. Danny put it back in the bag and zipped it close. "I just got a thought...Do you have any money?"

"Ehm, where do you expect me to get them? I live in a frozen wasteland!" Bill eyepalmed, before yelping in pain slightly.

"Okay, okay, just keep calm, Cypher," he muttered, before sighing, "Eh, what would you do without me?" He snapped his fingers and a black wallet appeared in the air and fell in Danny's hands. "Expenses are on me, you will never run out of money. Nice to have a rich demon buddy, right?" He winked. "Alright, you may go now, I will be close by, watching, like usual. And remember, reality is an illusion..."

"The universe is a hologram," Danny continued with a smirk.

"Buy gold!" Bill saluted him, before dissapearing.

Phantom flipped the bag over his shoulder and looked around for any sign where to go. It was a morning at the moment, and Danny's stomach started to grumble. He should have eaten in FarFrozen. For a while he just stared at the sky, it was the first time in half year he had seen the blue sky of Human World.

Danny decided to just walk down the road until he will find out the way. His sensitive hearing suddenly caught an engine's rumble. He looked back and saw a car moving his way. He got an idea, maybe a driver will show the way. Danny waved his hand in front of the car and it stopped near him. The window opened, revealing a childishly looking guy in a cap and a green T-shirt with a...question mark. Danny remembered Bill's explanation of the nicknames. He said that question mark was on the T-shirt. Oh, Danny and his luck.

"Yo, dude, wassup," Question mark said cheerfully. Danny snapped out of his stupor, shaking his head.

"Hey there, sorry to stop you, but do you know which way is Gravity Falls?"

"Oh, of course I do, I live there! We can even go there together!"

"Thanks for the offer, pal, but I don't want to bother..." the door near the driver opened.

"Dude, there is ten miles to the town," Danny's eyes widened. 'Bill, you son of a...' he thought, "Come in, I don't mind company at all." Question mark continued. Phantom sighed, before shrugging.

"I guess," he got into the car, closing the door, and together they continued the way.

"I'm Soos by the way."

Danny felt relieved to call the guy by name and not by Bill's nick. "I'm Danny. Danny Fenton."

"Are you a tourist? If you are, go visit Mystery Shack, I work there. There is a lot of strange and weird stuff..."

"I'll think about it," Danny said. "If you live in that town, then why are you here?" He asked. Soos pointed on the back seat. Danny saw a few boxes with lightbulbs.

"Mr. Pines said to buy lightbulbs, and they were cheaper in nearby town, so he told me to go there. My turn for question, how did you get that creepy scar?" Danny turned to Soos and raised his eyebrow, cut in half by the named scar.

"Creepy?"

"Yeah, you look like you are a ninja assassin sent to kill some bad guy," Danny chuckled in amusement at the strange assumption. He then looked out of the window.

"It was an explosion," he answered, "Piece of metal flew at me and left a reminder," Soos felt that that was a touchy subject.

"I heard that some girls like the guys with scars," he tried to cheer the ghost boy up, but in result somehow saddened himself. Where exactly he had found that information, Danny didn't know and didn't want to know.

The rest of the road went quiet, since Soos didn't know what to talk with that weird kid, while Danny was fully in his memories. The road passed by, and Phantom's stomach grumbled again. Soos finally found a topic for conversation.

"Oh, I know just the place for you to eat. They have the best pancakes!"

Danny had to admit, he liked this guy. Soos reminded him about his father, they both being always goofy and thinking about food.

-Later-

"Here we are, dude," Soos stopped.

Danny got out of the car and saw a giant log with a sign 'Greasy's Diner' above it. Yet another reminder of his home, absolutely not thrilling na,e for a restaurant with tasty food. Hopefully they don't have a hazardous secret sauce. Underneath the main sign bearing the diner's name was a smaller sign with the slogan "We have food." Close by was a wooden pole with a light hanging from it, and a banner on one side that simply said "Eat."

"Thanks for the ride, pal," Danny said.

"No problemo, dude," Soos drove away.

'I see you have already made a friend,' Phantom heard the familiar voice in his head.

'Get out of my head, Bill.'

'Well, sorry, you yourself said not to show up in public,' Danny sighed.

'Just don't try to get inside my mind,' he threatened.

'I wouldn't worry about that, your mind is the toughest nut to crack that I've seen.'

'I take that as compliment,' Danny said dryly.

He took his way inside the diner. It was what you expect from it. Nothing unusual, especially for a diner with such an interesting architecture. Tables, bar stand, yep, absolutely normal. Danny just took the place near the window and stared out of it. He heard a cough and turned to its source. There was a past middle age woman, with a closed left eye and gray hair.

"Hello there, I'm Lazy Susan and I will be serving you now. What do you want?"

'Take pancakes!' Bill shouted in his head.

"Ehm...pancakes..." Danny said weakly, he hadn't even seen the menu yet. "And coffee, no matter which one."

Susan nodded and walked away. This city is full of weirdos, isn't it?

'Yeah, DP, you are probably the most normal guy here, and you are a ghost.'

'Stop it already! Don't you have anything better to do?'

'Alriiight, I'll go search for a pawn to play with,' Bill said sadly.

Danny sighed, leaning back in his seat. His eyes fell on his bag. Well, while he was waiting...

The Journal was interesting to read. There were different strange creatures, starting from gnomes and ending with Manotaurs (Danny had a serious laugh at this, earning confused looks from the other customers). Oh, there was even a page about Bill. Avoid at all costs...never trust him...Danny snorted, like he hadn't known that before.

"Here you are," Susan handed him a plate and mug.

"Thanks," Danny said, putting away the Journal. "Can I ask you a question?"

Susan nodded. "I will be in this town for a while. Is here any place I can stay?" She hummed in thought, putting a hand on her chin.

"Our only motel is in repair," she pointed out of the window at the half destroyed building, which oh so conveniently was standing on the opposite side of the road. "You should have seen what happened here a while ago, there was a giant robot!" Danny raised his eyebrow but didn't comment. "Anyways, I think you should go to Stan Pines. He is such a sweetheart, and surely he will find a room for ya if you pay him enough."

And here is that Pines again. Why does he have a feeling that he will regret coming there? When did he have a choice, though?

'You never had a choice.'

'GET OUT!'

-Later-

After his starvation problem was solved, Danny started to search for a solution to his housing problem. A little detective game was required for that. Soos said that he was working in Mystery Shack, and spoke about Mr. Pines like he was his boss. So, since it was time for almost every place to be opened, Danny guessed that he should search for him there. It wasn't hard, the first bypasser he asked showed him where to go.

The shack was huge. One side of the sloping roof had the Mystery Shack name (The "S" in "Shack" having fallen off, hopefully without killing anyone), and the other had a small platform with a cooler. What. The roof with the "GIFT" sign also had a weather vane that had the letters W, H, A, and T, along with a question mark, and Danny wondered about the reasons of such strange design.

Shrugging to himself and recalling that he had seen weirder stuff, Danny went to the door and opened it.

Before he could take a good look on the inside, someone grabbed his hand. Phantom resisted the instinctive urge to punch or blast the one who did it.

"Welcome to the Mystery Shack, boy!" It was an old man in a black suit, glasses and a red fez with yellow...either pac-man eating circle or a fish. Wait...a fez...The man carried the stunned teen to the side. "Tell me, do you have a nickel?" Danny blinked, before taking out a nickel, which he had from the charge after breakfast. The Fez took the nickel with a grin, before removing a cover from some construction. It was a small copper statue of a prospector, who held a sieve in his hands, asking for nickel. His face gave Danny a depressive thoughts about inevitability of death.

"Say hello to Old Goldie! And look, he wants to greet you, too!" Stan put the nickel inside the machine.

It started to stirr, and it went well for a short while, until its eyes started to pop out, the machine let out a soul freezing scream, and oil filled its mouth and spilled over, covering its lower parts and the floor. Danny stared at this scene with wide eyes.

'Holy Pits of Hell! That was the most terrifying thing I have seen!' Bill yelled in Danny's mind.

'No arguing here,' Danny answered, gulping slightly and staring in the empty eye sockets. Stan also stared at that thing, humming in thought.

"Should have twisted the bolts better," he muttered. Danny snapped out of the stupor, shaking his head.

"Are you Stan Pines?"

"Yeah, what do you want."

"I need a place to stay for night," Danny answered.

"This is not a hotel, kid."

"Hm," Danny opened his wallet and dug in it, "President Franklin doesn't seem to agree with you," he grinned, showing hundred dollars bill. Stan stared at it hungrily, "You should respect the others' rights for a warm bed, Mr. Pines," he changed his voice, speaking as the president on the bill.

"Ugh, fine, now give it to me," Stan snatched the bill. "Soos!"

Soos came out from behind the shelf. "What's up, Mr. Pines...oh, hey dude, you are here!" He said once he saw the ghost boy.

"Yeah, yeah, hugs and all that," Stan said, waving his hand, "For how long you said you are staying?"

"For the rest of the summer," Danny could see a dollar sign in Stan's eye not covered by an eyepatch.

"That will cost you..." Phantom took out money without saying a word.

'Damn, DP, you will make me bankrupt!' Bill groaned.

"I guess it's all included?" Danny asked. Stan seemed to contemplate the decision.

"Hm...as long as you don't cause any trouble."

'Ha! As if!'

'Speak for yourself, Bill,' Danny responded. "Got it."

"Anyways, Soos, show him the way to that old bedroom kids found a while ago," Stan walked away probably to put the money in his vault and swim in them.

"C'mon dude, that is a very good room."

Soos went through the 'Personal only' door and Danny followed. Through the pretty cozy looking living space and upstairs. Soos stopped near one of the countless doors.

"Here you go, dude. Put your stuff there, feel like at home," Soos looked at the wall clock. "Oh no, sorry dude, I need to go!" He ran downstairs.

'Where did he go?' Danny thought.

'Probably trying to get a girl,' Bill answered.

'Alright, first of,' Danny entered the room and shut the door, leaving his bag near it, 'Get out of my head'.

Bill materialized in front of him.

"And second, you were spying on them, weren't you?"

"I already told you about predestined fate! I think I'm allowed to look after my enemies," Bill crossed his hands. Danny shrugged, sprawling on a bed. "Too sad they removed that funny carpet," Bill continued, looking at the empty floor. "Well, I have some things to do, so don't lose until I come back!" Bill disappeared.

Danny sighed. Now...how to entertain himself? He wasn't in the mood for anything from his usual hobbies list. Danny's eyes fell on the wallet, and he grinned.

Souvenir shopping! Yay. There sure was a lot of things to look at. Of course, this weird small statues of weird animals were not real, Danny could smell all this glue for a mile. But. He should buy a few just for the fun of it, he picked one most peculiar one - half-badger half-squirrel. Danny almost let out a gasp by looking at one certain stand. It can't be...

"Awesome!" Phantom whisper yelled. He never thought he will see something like this again. He was holding a Dumpty Humpty cap. It was his favorite group! He couldn't stop a grin from appearing, especially after he took it on and glanced in the nearby mirror.

Grabbing all the stuff he picked, Danny went to the counter. There was a girl, sitting with her legs on a table and her face hidden behind the magazine. Phantom coughed.

"Excuse me, can you ring me up?"

"Sure thing...Wow, it's a lot of junk, man," the girl sized the huge pile of stuff, that it hid Danny's face.

"Passes in genes, I guess," Danny shrugged, almost dropping everything he was holding. The girl helped him to hold it, before picking the stuff on top and ringing it.

"Dumpty Humpty, huh?" She asked, ringing the cap.

"Yeah, they are, like, the best group out there!" Danny said excitedly.

"Really? Good to see someone thinking the same way as you," the girl smirked. "Totally it will be thirty dollars and forty six..."

Now she got a look at the one who she was talking with. Messy black hair, tied in a low ponytail, lean built and a scar over the left white eye. But the healthy one, though...

Danny meanwhile saw a nice looking girl with long red hair, green eyes and cute freckles over her face. She was barely younger than him, maybe for a year. However, he realized that he was staring. She however, did not.

"Hey, you ok there?" He asked.

"O-oh, it's nothing. It's just your eye, it's REALLY blue," Danny smirked.

"Well, people keep saying that. My bud says that's because my soul is as cold as ice, but I think he was just sad I ate his chips. Couldn't do anything with myself, I was hungry," the girl had a laugh at this.

"You seem like a funny guy, hey, actually my friends and I are actually gonna be hanging out after I finish my shift. Wanna come?" Danny raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure you should be asking a total stranger?"

"My name is Wendy Corduroy, yours?"

"Uh, Danny. Danny Fenton," Wendy smirked.

"There, now we are not strangers. So what do you say?"

"Well..."

"Oh, c'mon, we will give you a five star tour around the town..."

'My dear goodness, I was gone for half an hour and you already got yourself a girlfriend? You are unstoppable, DP!'

'Bill, get lost.'

"Okay, I don't have anything to do, anyway."


	3. Chapter III: Getting acquainted

"So, what brings you here in our little town?" Wendy asked, while she and Danny were walking through the streets of Gravity Falls.

"Well, you can say that my friend 'advised' me to come here. He just wouldn't shut up about it."

"Is that someone I know?"

"No, I doubt that," Danny answered, 'But knowing Bill, you will find out soon,' he added mentally without a slightest enthusiasm. "Actually, we made a bet out of it," Danny chuckled. "That I will remain in one piece till the end of the summer."

"Where are you from?"

"Well, my temporary residence is on the second floor of the Shack, my door is always opened. Besides the times it is not," they both laughed, "And as for your question, I am from Amity Park."

"Never heard of it."

"It's in Illinois."

"Nah, still don't recall anything. Wait, you made all this way from there only for some bet?"

"Hey, I am a workless teen, I need to entertain myself somehow."

"And your parents are fine with you traveling half across the country?"

"I'm afraid it's a very bad phone connection in there," Danny pointed at the sky.

"Oh," Wendy said uncomfortably, understanding what he meant.

"That's okay, you didn't know. Where are your friends, anyway?" Danny changed the topic.

"We planned to meet at...oh, here they are!" Wendy was glad to change topics too.

Danny saw how two boys were aiming darts at the apple on the third one's head. That is one weird...he should stop calling things weird. He should just start calling things normal, it will be much easier.

"A-are you sure it's safe?" The one with an apple on his head asked nervously.

"Relax, dude, it's totally safe," dark skinned teen answered, continuing to aim, but not without high-fiving the blond one.

"Hey guys!" Wendy greeted and probably saved the guy with the apple from a painful death.

"Hey Wendy," the teens greeted back, "Who is the dude?"

"Danny Fenton," was his short response. "I'm staying here for a while."

"Alright Danny, this is Lee, Nate and Thompson," Wendy introduced them, "And over there is Tambry," she pointed at the girl with purple hair and pink highlight Danny hadn't noticed before. Tambry briefly glanced up from her phone, before returning to type something on it. Danny had a feeling that they would have gotten along with Tucker.

"Dude, what's with this scar?" Thompson asked.

Danny took the apple from his head. "That's what happens when you don't take needed precautions," he smirked at his terrified gaze, before making a bite. "So, what are you up to, guys?"

"Well, at first we planned to write on a wall of Old Man McGucket's home..." Lee started, "But we are out of paint...plus that's kinda boring when he is sleeping."

"And..." Wendy inquired.

"We hadn't thought this through good enough."

"Well," Danny said slowly, "On our way here I noticed one place and I might have an idea."

No one saw a devious grin on his face.

-Later-

"It was a horrible idea, dude!" Nate screamed to Lee, who was shaking like a leaf in fear, clutching his gun tightly.

"I know...I KNOW!" He exclaimed maybe too loud, before his friend suddenly covered his mouth and shooed him.

"Keep quiet or he will hear!" He whispered.

"COME OUT, YOU SCUMBAGS!" They both heard a yell and hid behind the nearest pillar, panting heavily. They prayed to god for their safety.

"Wait, where is Thompson?"

A chilling scream filled the air and they got their answer. Two teens looked at each other and gulped.

"He is a monster!" Lee said.

"Poor Thompson. But where is HE now?" Nate peaked out of their cover, looking around.

"Looking for someone?" That phrase from behind made their blood run cold. Slowly turning around, they saw Danny grinning evilly and pointing two laser guns at their chests.

A moment later two girlish screams were heard.

"You lost," Danny said, lowering two rifles which he was able to hold one in each hand. The second one was taken from another fallen opponent and was dropped right after 'killing' two teens. "You shouldn't have agreed on laser tag against me."

Two opponents sighed and walked away, since they were out. Danny smirked. Now only for...

"Looking for someone?" Wendy was pointing a gun in his back with a smirk on her face. Instead of screaming, however, Danny only grinned.

"Yeah, redhead, green eyes, freckles, have you seen her?" he said, before jumping to the side before she could shoot. Danny barely avoided the shots and hid behind the cover. Now he needs to think up a plan, since straightforward attack will be pointless. And while he was thinking, he was shooting without looking up, trying if not hit, then don't let Wendy approach.

"Oh, c'mon, I came here for a show!" Danny turned sharply.

"Bill, what in the name of the Ancients are you doing here? What if someone sees you?!" He whisper yelled, before shooting at the place where the redhead supposedly was. That was unlikely, however. Bill even dropped his popcorn bucket from surprise when a laser shot flew right above him. How was he supposed to eat it?

"Relaax, I fiddled with their cameras."

Security of the building meanwhile stared at the kid's drawings over cameras, representing the scene unfold.

"Anyways," Bill continued, "seems like Ice Bag gives you troubles. I can help you out."

Danny heard the sounds of boots rapidly hitting the floor and took it as a clue to change his position. He stood between two big cubes, which were a part of futuristic design.

"Seriously, just say a word," Bill insisted.

"I'm NOT going to cheat," Danny growled. "Now go before you will be spotted!"

"Eh, you are such a party ruiner," he still dissapeared, though.

Danny peaked outside and looked around. So far it seemed clear. He slowly paced from one place to another, trying to hear the slightest sound. Darn, she is good at sneaking. But, when people try to sneak, they usually do it...

Danny sidestepped the shot.

...from behind. Danny looked back and playfully glared at the girl in front of him.

"Ready to lose, City Boy?" Wendy asked.

"After you, redhead," Danny took the position and started shooting and going into offensive.

It started a long and exhausting match. They took covers, came out of and changed them, but for a big amount of time they still couldn't land a single shot at each other. Wendy was tough, he had to admit. Well, the only people shooting at him from blasters were Morons in White, who would miss even air, his parents, where only his mother was good at it, and Valerie. While she got better, she still had a lousy aim. Well, he wasn't as good in shooting from a gun as from his palm, either.

'Alight, now or never,' Danny thought. It was time to get this over with. He got up.

And now they were pointing guns at each other dead on.

"Hm, pretty good," Danny commented with a smirk.

"You aren't bad, either," Wendy responded.

"Soo, how about a draw?" Phantom offered.

"Yeah, seems good to me."

-Later-

"I think your friends are now scared of me," Danny said sarcastically. Wendy huffed longingly.

"No, they are not, right guys? Guys?" There was nobody behind them. "I guess you are right."

Danny blushed a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I kinda lose my temper in such situations."

"Kinda? You looked like Rambo who escaped from asylum," Phantom laughed fullheartedly.

"Well, I guess I already have a room there prepared for me. I mean, who would believe in ghosts?" He shrugged.

"Yeah, who will?" Wendy laughed nervously, recalling that night in the shop and two senior ghosts. "So you do believe?"

"I guess you can call it 'family business'. My parents were ghost hunters."

"Wha..."

"Yep. They created a LOT of stuff for their job. They didn't believe in magical rituals, being scientists to the brains of their bones. BUT, they made a huge arsenal of weaponry which can harm ghosts. I have one with myself actually, wanna see it?" Wendy smirked.

Once they were back in the Shack, they saw Stan taking on some equipment, such as screwdrivers, lockpicks and bobbypins and much more thieving stuff.

"Uhm, Mr.Pines, what are you doing?" Wendy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I found a replacement for Goldie," he clicked the belt shut. "But the owner wouldn't sell it to me."

"So you decided to steal it," Danny deadpanned.

"I wouldn't call it 'stealing'. I offered to buy that badger, but he disagreed, plus, I need it more than him," Stan started to climb out of the window, "Not a word to anyone," he warned, before falling down with a yelp.

"Does this happen often?" Danny asked.

"You have no idea," Wendy answered.

In Danny's temporary room, Phantom opened his bag and took out a small metal blaster with a green outlines.

"Here ya go," Danny threw it to Wendy, which she easily caught and studied curiously.

"So, how do you use it?" She asked.

"Alright, first of, turn down that switch on the left," Wendy did as was told and a small cylinder full of green glowing liquid, which looked a lot like toxic waste. The cylinder had numbers on it, starting from one till twenty, the liquid was on fifteen. "It shows how much shots you still have," Danny explained, "Now put it inside and turn back the switch," he nodded when she did it, "Now press the red button to turn it on," the blaster started to charge, "And finally, have fun."

Wendy looked around, searching for a good target. Outside was the target she put on a totem long ago. She aimed and shot. A green blast came out with a sparkling sound and hit it in the center. It turned into ash immediately and left a scorch mark on a totem. Wendy's jaw dropped.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Danny commented.

"You...you do realize that your parents made, like, a REAL LAZER WEAPON?" He shrugged.

"It's harmless to humans, at least if you don't turn to level 10. The wheel is on the bottom," Wendy looked down, and sure enough, there was a wheel with ten numbers.

"No surprise you have so much money," she said, "People must be buying them a lot," Danny shook his head.

"No, all my money came from Bill, he is rich, and my expenses don't concern him," 'Please don't be here, don't be here,' he prayed mentally. "As for my parents' researches, some government bastards wanted to get them, not caring that I and I alone can grant them access, since I am 'underage'. So, I blew up the lab and burned everything, taking the blueprints and research journals with me in...you can call it a safeplace."

"Wow," Wendy breathed. "You have one unusual life," Danny snorted.

"You have no idea," he said, before an uncomfortable silence settled between them.

"Hey, do you want to see one awesome place?" Wendy asked, making Phantom shrug.

"I'm all ears."

They went downstairs and into the shop, to the old curtain, to be exact.

"And, voilà," Wendy moved the curtain, revealing a ladder to the trapdoor. "It leads on the roof," she explained, "Don't tell Mr. Pines," Danny raised an eyebrow.

"You want to say he doesn't know about the ladder in a middle of his shop?"

"Nope," Wendy started to climb up. "You coming?" Danny nodded and climbed too.

Once on the roof, from which was a nice view on the surroundings, Wendy slid down to the small plane space. There was a seat and a cooler with soda.

"Nice place," Danny commented, before catching a soda can. "What's this bucket for?"

"Well, for stones to throw," Wendy answered, before taking one and throwing into totem. "That target over there used to be for this."

Danny sat on the edge of the roof, looking at the darkening sky. "That could be an awesome spot for stargazing!"

"I actually saw a telescope in Mr. Pines cabinet," Wendy shrugged.

"Do you think he will let us?"

"I bet the twins can help us with it. Right, Dipper?"

Danny looked back and saw a smaller kid with brown hair and eyes, and a cap with...holy moly.

Dipper meanwhile stared at the scene and had only one thought in mind. 'Who is this guy who does he think he is why does Wendy like him he's such a dork with his black hair and super blue eye and scar they're going to grow up and be interested in the same things and start dating and get married I can't allow this but I can't be obvious she knows I have a crush on her so just play it cool, Dipper. Be chill.' One big thought.

"Only if I can join you," Dipper said. Danny also decided to play cool in front of the one he was supposed to stay as far away as possible. He smiled.

"Sure thing, kiddo. Are you in Astronomy?" He asked. "Bet we will see a Big Dipper from here," he only then realized he had punned. "Or maybe even Triangulum. It's pretty lame constellation, though," there should be a huge arrow pointing at him and saying 'Nerd'. Dipper crossed his hands, completely not impressed.

"Well, guys, as much as I'd like to hang out with you two," Wendy got up, "I gotta go now," she jumped from one tree to another until she was on the ground. Wendy waved back at them and went away.

"Neat," Danny commented.

"Who are you?" Dipper let go of his pretending.

"Danny Fenton, I'm staying in this town for the rest of the summer.

"WHAT?!" Danny raised his eyebrow.

"Yeesh, kid, why such hostility?"

"Because...uhm...you...I..." Danny crossed his hands.

"See? No reason at all," he smirked at Dipper's reddening face. He then sighed. "Look, Dipper, from what I learned from Wendy, you are a nice guy..."

"She talks about me?"

"Yeah..." Danny was too clueless to notice the real reason of that question. "I asked her who else lives in that Shack. I mean, I need to know about my neighbors for this summer."

"Your what?" A dreadful feeling rose in the smaller kid's stomach.

"Well, for a good price Mr. Pines let me stay in extra room," Dipper looked ready to faint, "But returning back to the topic, you seem like a nice guy, and I don't want any problems between us, I'm not some maniac or anything else. I'm simple guy, who wants to spend his summer in a calm place," Danny smiled softly, "So, are we good?"

He outstretched his hand for a handshake. Dipper contemplated for a few seconds, before taking it and shivering slightly at how cold his hand was. "Yeah, we are good," Dipper said. 'Are not,' he added mentally. Danny grinned.

"Okay, then," he fake yawned, "I'm going to sleep, it has been a long day."

Danny went back to the exit and climbed down the ladder, leaving Dipper alone on the roof.

Meanwhile one certain dorito found a wonderful loophole to assure his victory without breaking the rules.


	4. Chapter IV: Something deeper

It was quiet. Too quiet. Not even an owl's howling. The night forest didn't seem very dangerous so far, though. Unless you consider becoming insane from the lack of sounds (and such thing actually exists) a danger.

"Psst, DP."

Well, that didn't last long. Danny looked to the side and saw Bill floating nearby. "What is it?" He asked the dream demon.

"I wanted to ask, what exactly are you planning to do?"

Phantom shrugged. "Dunno, maybe find some beast and kick its ass. I hadn't practiced in a while."

Bill huffed. "And they say I'm bloodthirsty. Tell you what, you ain't gonna find anything worthy here. For that you will need to go further in the forest," he pointed in actually random direction, before hearing a growl. "Or maybe it will find you."

"It's just my stomach," Danny said, before snapping his fingers and a bag of chips appeared in his hands. Bill stared wide eyed at the act.

"Since when you could do that?!" He exclaimed, making Phantom grin.

"Well, I learned a few spells," he said, opening the bag and chewing the first dorito. "I put a spell on my bag so I could summon whatever I want from there, wanna some?" He offered the snack to his friend, who took it in his hand and examined.

"That's weeeird," he said longingly, before shrugging. Then his eye turned into mouth and he ate it and chewed. "Wow, that's awesome!" He exclaimed before looking at his friend, "DP?"

Danny stared wide eyed at the scene, frozen in...shock? Disgust? Probably both. Without getting response, Bill put his hand inside the bag, desiring for more of that snack. Phantom snapped out of stupor and moved it away from the demon. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "Give it to me!"

"Not when you eat like this. That's disgusting!"

"How else am I supposed to?! I don't have a mouth!" Bill shouted in exasperation. Phantom narrowed his eyes, before sighing.

"Just don't eat in front of me," he let Bill have more of the snack, which made him squeal in delight. "So, what was that about the forest?"

"Go that way," Bill said nonchalantly, before munching the chips behind Danny's back.

They went, or floated in Cypher's case, for another while. The lack of light didn't bother them, they both could see in darkness. And so far there wasn't a single sign of any creature. What Wendy was worried about was beyond Danny's understatement. Maybe more feral beasts smelled what he was and preferred to get away.

"Looks like we should head back, don't ya think so?" Bill asked. Phantom hummed in thought.

"Yeah, probably. But I think we are lost," Cypher looked around.

"Yep. What shall we do?"

"Ask the bypassers?" Danny offered sarcastically.

"I know, we shall ask the bypassers! I'm genius, right?" He nudged the ghost teen, who stared at him disbelievingly. "No need to answer that," Bill whispered, putting a finger on Danny's mouth. "I know I am."

Then they heard a rustling in bushes. And while Bill became invisible, Danny only grinned. Slowly and without making a sound, he was approaching the bush. His hand slowly ignited with green light. Then, in one swift movement, he moved them away and prepared to blast whatever was in there. Phantom, however didn't expect it to be so small.

"Shmebulock!"

A gnome. Of all horrible beasts living in this forest he got a gnome. With a red pointed hat, a blue shirt and a shaggy gray beard, mustache, buck teeth, and crooked gray eyebrows. He had a rather silly expression on his face.

Phantom raised his eyebrow. "Hey, uhm..."

"Shmebulock."

"Shmebulock, right. Do you know which way the town is?"

"Shmebulock."

Danny growled slightly. "I know your name is Shmebulock, now would you kindly to speak normally?"

Not so hard to guess what the gnome's response was. Before Phantom could start an act of misplaced agression, something happened.

"Get him!" A yell was heard and a gnome rain poured down on the ghost teen, trying to pin him down.

"Seriously?" He deadpanned, before easily shaking them off. They fell off with multiple yelps and bounced off the ground like rubber balls. "You aren't the most welcoming bunch, are you?"

The gnomes started to build a construction with their bodies like cheerleaders. One gnome with brown beard climbed on the top and was on the same eye level as Danny. The little guy glared at him.

"You are trespassing and will be treated as a tresspasser!" He said.

"I hadn't seen a sign anywhere," Phantom answered with a smirk. It slipped when the gnome pointed at a sign thirty meters away. So they DID have a sign with poorly scribed letters. "Oh."

"You are on the sovereign territory. I'm Jeff, King of gnomes, and now state your business here!"

"I'm merely passing through. Show me how to return to the town and I will be off."

Jeff hummed and put a hand on his chin, rubbing his beard with another one. Danny meanwhile thought how unfitting Jeff's name was for a gnome.

"Hmm, and what do we get from it?" Jeff asked.

"If you let me go, I won't turn you into bloody mess," Danny smirked toothily, and his canine seemed too sharp for the gnomes' liking. Jeff gulped.

"H-how dare you?! Gnomes, unite!"

Danny didn't know what was amusing more. The fact that this phrase said by the gnome sounded like something Power Rangers would say, or that huge monster they created from their bodies with a help of reinforcements. What was NOT amusing is that that monster roared into his face, leaving traces of saliva.

"Aha!" Jeff shouted from the top. "What do you say now?"

Danny mutely became intangible and the liquid fell on the ground. "I say that you shouldn't have shown your face."

His pointing finger glowed with green and moment later a small blast erupted from it, hitting the Gnome king dead on. He yelped loudly in surprise and started to fall, but disrupted figure of the monster, namely a mountain of gnomes' bodies, softened his fall. Danny knew that when going against gnomes, which was pretty rare situation in general, you need to get rid of their leader. Author of that journal did a good research, but he didn't find their weakness. Line of Danny's assumptions led him to that after reading that this race was poorly organized.

Phantom stepped closer to Jeff and grabbed his small body, which wasn't so hard.

"Now listen here, 'Your Majesty'. I tried to be nice, but you hadn't listened. So now I demand, leave me alone or there will be one pesky annoyance less," Danny said menacingly, and his eyes flashed green for a moment, but long enough for Jeff to notice. "Are we clear?"

"Y-yeah, crystal clear!" He whimpered.

"Good," Danny let go of the gnome. "Now which way did you say the town was?" Jeff pointed at certain direction. "Thank you for cooperation. Now get lost."

He didn't need to be told twice. Jeff and his subjects scattered away before Danny could even blink.

"Hahaha!" Bill appeared, laughing his butt off. "Oh, dear goodness, I bet he peed his pants!"

"Yep," Danny grinned.

-Later-

As was previously said, Phantom didn't require sleep. He spent almost every night in simple reading. That night he did both of his activities, trying to be as quiet as possible, which wasn't so hard. Bill hadn't bothered him, which was relaxing and disturbing at the same time. That usually meant he was up to something, and it almost never was good. Sure, there was that time with a surprise party for no reason, where Bill somehow managed to get drunk and become even more crazy, but yet again, mostly it gave more troubles than fun.

Danny wasn't much aware about the time. The only thing he knew about is that the sun had already risen, he could feel the light coming through his eyelids. But such a small distraction couldn't break his concentration. But something else could, a delicious smell of breakfast, for instance. His mouth started watering. Danny sighed.

"I was bored, anyway," he mumbled and got up on his feet.

Danny opened the door and went in the hallway. Minding his hygiene, he searched for the bathroom first, after taking his toothbrush from his bag. It didn't take long to find it. After cleaning himself up, Danny followed the smelly trail and went downstairs. Quite logically, it was coming from a kitchen.

Dipper was sitting at the table, along with a girl Danny recalled whose name was Mabel, who was wearing a sweater with a shooting star. 'Guess that explains the nickname,' Danny thought.. Oh, and there was a small pig near them, who was eagerly emptying a bowl with cereal. Ah, this town and its residents don't cease to surprise him.

"Morning," Danny said with a smile, before putting the mug and turning on the coffee machine with his fist. Dipper glanced from his food, before mumbling greeting and returning to his pancakes. Mabel, however, looked up and brightened. Before Danny could blink, she was already standing near him.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? I'm Mabel. Do you like Waddles?" A rain of questions fell on him, before she lifted her pet pig and it snorted into his face.

"In order..." Danny said slowly, "I'm Danny, I'm staying here, nice to meet you, and...as long as it doesn't eat my things, I'm fine with that pig of yours."

Mabel squealed in joy.

"So, kiddos," Danny leaned on a wall, making a gulp from the mug, "What do you usually do in your free time?"

"Well, I go with my friends, and Dipper always does his nerdy things with his..." Dipper came to his sister and covered her mouth.

"We will be back in a moment," he laughed nervously, before leading Mabel out of the kitchen. He didn't know about Phantom's extremely good hearing. It didn't take any effort to hear what they were saying.

"Mabel, what are you doing?! You can't just tell him about the Journal! He is a total stranger!"

"Oh, c'mon, bro-bro, you suspect, like, ANYONE..."

Danny rolled his eyes with a smirk. One, he knows that Dipper has the Journal. Two, he doesn't give two...ehem...about it. He has his own. Phantom grabbed a few pancakes on a plate with him and exited the kitchen. A living room was big and everything what was needed in the living room was present there: TV, a lot of decorative unneded junk, an armchair with an old man sitting on it and wearing nothing but his shirt and underpants...Danny wished for a memory erasing tool. Stan looked up at him.

"Ah, Danny was it? Can you do me a favor?"

"Eh..."

"Great, thanks a lot, can you carry that box in the shop?" He pointed at the card box near him.

"I planned to eat."

"Relax," Stan took the plate and mug from Danny, "I'll keep it for ya."

Danny sighed, rubbing his temples. "Fine," he muttered, before easily lifting the box like feather and earning a shocked look from Stan, who almost dropped the breakfast. "There is thirty kilos!" He exclaimed in shock.

"I worked out a lot," Danny thought up an excuse and carried the box.

Stan glanced at the pancakes and munched one. "And be careful with those!" He shouted after him.

Danny carried the box, muttering different kinds of curses under his nose. Once he was in the shop, he dropped it on the floor. The sound it created was louder than nuclear bomb and every customer's eyes were turned in his direction.

"Whatcha doing?" He heard a voice behind and turned his head sharply. He managed to hold back the punch which usually followed. Wendy looked at him confused. "Wow, nervous much?" Danny laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, not at all. Just people who come to me from behind don't usually have kind intentions. Reflexes helped me a lot."

"Okaay," Wendy said, "So, what's in the box?"

"I dunno, Stan just said to carry it here," Danny shrugged, before kneeling and opening the box. It was filled with figures of the strange creatures. Was that glue which Danny was smelling? "So THAT'S what weighted thirty kilos. What are those?"

"Actually," Wendy lowered her voice to a whisper, "They are fakes, Stan makes them for silly tourists who don't notice a thing," she pointed at one guy who was eagerly examining the 'REAL DINOSAUR EGG'.

"Huh, I guess I'm one of them," Danny smirked, "I bought them to confuse my friends back home, though. It should be funny to see their faces. So, uhm, do you need a help to put them or something?"

"Nah, that's Soos' job," Wendy waved her hand, before searching for Soos. "Huh, that's weird," she said, not finding the guy.

"A day off?" Danny offered, earning a deadpan look.

"Soos NEVER had a day off," Wendy said, before putting a hand on her chin. "Something BIG must have happened."

"I think I know what happened," they both looked down and saw Mabel near them. "Maybe he played that game he bought yesterday. Me and Dipper wanted to check on him, wanna come with us?" She asked eagerly.

"I need to stand near the counter," Wendy answered.

"I barely know the guy," Danny added.

"Mabel, maybe Soos is fine?" Dipper asked, coming close, "I mean, maybe he is just getting late, that's all..." his hand was yanked by his sister.

"C'mon, bro, let's go," she pulled him away and out of the shack.

"What's up with the kid? Dipper, I mean."

"I don't know," Wendy raised her eyebrow. "He isn't usually like that. I guess, I'll just return to my exciting sitting on one place," she made her way to the counter and Danny followed since he hadn't anything to do and he somehow had a feeling that his breakfast was in someone else's stomach right now.

Stan meanwhile burped contently.

They spent a lot of time by just sitting and talking, while Wendy rang the customers up from time to time. They talked about a lot of things, now it came to music and their common favorite band. Danny liked it, it was obvious, and he wasn't pretending, it felt nice to talk about such small things with someone. Especially if the topic was something he enjoyed.

"In my opinion, the second album is the best," Danny said.

Wendy huffed. "Seriously, second one?" She asked incredulously. "Dude, everyone will agree that the fourth album rocked!"

Danny's eyes were ready to pop out and his jaw hit the floor. "They...they made a FOURTH?" He said slowly. "Oh my GOODNESS!" he put his hands over his face and fell back on his chair. "How could I miss that?!"

Danny shook his head rapidly. "Is that SO bad?" Wendy asked.

"Sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just thought about something, nevermind. So, uhm...when did they publish it?"

"About two months ago. CDs were sold like hot pies. But..." Wendy smirked. "I MIGHT have gotten my hands on one."

"You have?!"

"I said I MIGHT have," she continued to smirk teasingly. "I guess we will have to check after my shift."

"Are...are you inviting me to come over?"

"Yep."

'ALERT! ALERT!' Bill shouted inside Danny's head with a loud sound of siren. 'VIRGINITY IS AT DANGER! VIRGINITY...'

'BILL!'

-Later-

"Hmm, I admit, that's pretty good," Danny commented after taking off the headphones.

"Told ya," Wendy said, before sipping from soda can. "That's weird, though. You are a fan, but don't know about the latest album, why is it?"

"Well," Danny laid back on a bed, "Remember when I told you about 'safeplace' where I put my parents' stuff?" At the redhead's nod he continued. "I forgot to mention that I stayed there for half of the year. And I hadn't had a communication with the outer world there."

"You speak like you have lived in a frozen wasteland," Danny gave her a deadpan look, "Wait, you HAVE lived in a frozen wasteland?"

"Yep. I was in a very good relationship with one tribe. Heck, they consider me some kind of demigod," he chuckled, "No matter how much I asked, they keep calling me 'Great One'. They even built a shrine in my honor," Danny shuddered as Wendy laughed loudly.

"Are you serious?" She breathed. "Now that's what I want to see!"

Phantom looked horrified and shook his head rapidly. "Believe me, you don't."

'HAHAHA! Oh, I HAVE seen that shrine of yours!'

'Can I get some privacy here?!'

'I'm just here not to let you do something you will regret later, my dearest friend.'

'What do you...' Danny became red, 'Damn it, Bill!'

"Duude," Wendy snapped her fingers in front of his face, getting the ghost teen's attention. "You spaced out. Again."

"Oh, what...sorry, I kinda do this a lot," he rubbed the back of his neck.

She snorted. "So I have noticed. You alright, you seem a bit red."

"No, I'm fine," he said maybe too quickly.

"Well, that's good, 'cause you better return at Shack while it is not night yet."

Danny raised his eyebrow. "Why?" He played dumb.

"Why do you think so much people come here? Because there is a lot of creatures in the woods, especially at night. So, if you care about your guts, don't go in the forest at night," that was said in an eerie voice and a flashlight was lighting her face.

They both laughed. "But seriously, dude," Wendy added, "Don't go there."

Little did she know that Phantom was the one the beasts now feared.

-Later-

The following day was weird. Not in 'Unicorn with two horns' way, but more like 'Shark on jetpack with wrestler's arms'. If the first one can be considered harmless, a shark coming from the sky and throwing you around like a ragdoll isn't what you call a safe thing to keep around. How did it apply to the situation? Well, everything started from a simple evening conversation in the Shack's living room.

"C'mon, Danny, it will be awesome!" Mabel agitated him nonstop.

"I fail to see what is awesome in that," Danny commented, looking up from his book and giving a frosty look, which wasn't hard, considering his eye color.

Dipper actually shivered on his place nearby. Seriously, since the first meeting that guy was giving him chills. And what Wendy found in him?

"Pretty please?" Mabel continued with puppy eyes.

"Ugh!" Danny flopped the book close. "You won't let me go, will you?"

"Noope," Mabel responded, hanging from the edge of an armchair upside down.

"Pray tell, why do you need me to be present on some guy's date?"

"This isn't just 'some guy'! We are talking about Soos!" She insisted. "He finally got himself a date and we must make sure it is secure."

"Again, I fail to see how it should concern me. We aren't friends, I barely know him. Besides, what can I do out there? Disguise as a waiter and bring foods while whispering advices?"

"Woah! That idea is so much better than I thought!" Mabel exclaimed.

"It's a horrible idea," Danny and Dipper said at the same time.

"Mabel," Phantom continued seriously, "I'll say that clearly and only once. I. Am not. Going."

"Aww," Mabel dropped her head. But then she perked up. "Alright then, we will go prepare anything. By. Ourselves," she added, clearly parodying Danny's serious tone, before dragging her brother out of the room.

Phantom leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes and sighing in content at the settled silence. Like every ghost, he had something sociopathic lurking inside of him. That's why he liked being in seclusion. However, his human side craved for companionship. It had a negative effects to his mental health. To the others it may seem like he had a split of personality, and partially it was truth. There was something else, though. A slight pang inside his chest, and not a pleasant one.

"Stupid obsession," Danny muttered angrily. "You brought me nothing good."

Yes, being a half ghost weakened the effects of his obsession. A normal ghost would stop at nothing to fulfill it, but Danny could resist the urge for some time until it became unbearable. However, he couldn't defy it, who knows what will happen if he does that. Phantom already was on the dangerous line of becoming someone he didn't want to be. The only thing which made them different is that Danny didn't want to kill every living being on the planet.

"I better go on the walk."

Even if couldn't defy it, he will prolong that as much as possible.

Danny rubbed his temples and came inside the store.

"Hello, my little friends," he heard Stan's voice.

Curious, Danny looked behind on of the shelves. Stan was sitting on his knees, near the case with different thieving tools. Again.

"Stan, this is getting out of hand," Wendy commented.

"Well, Wendy, sometimes a man has to steal a badger."

"He is in this again, isn't he?" Danny asked the redhead, making her jump in surprise.

"Dude, how can you move so quietly?" She asked in bewilderment, but received only shrug.

"Oh, Danny boy, I think you can help me," Stan said excitedly. "How good are you in picking locks?"

"Ehm, this isn't a question you ask people around."

"So you are good? Wonderful, you are coming with me!" He bucked his belt.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm the one giving you food, water and a roof above your head. Now let's move."

Stan climbed out of the window and fell outside with an unhealthy sound. Danny sighed.

"I guess I have no choice. If he gets arrested I won't be able to stay here."

With that he jumped out of the window as well, before helping Stan to get on his feet. Danny even wiped the dust from his costume.

"The sooner we get this done, the better," he commented.

"You are right, let's move."

Their way towards the destination wasn't exactly most pleasant one. While Phantom simply walked on the pathway, Stan was running from one alleyway to another. And why did he wear the belt which just screamed that he was up to no good? Danny was getting annoyed more and more, until he realized where they were going. He recalled that Soos was having a date in the mall, and that's where Stan planned to get the badger. On his way Phantom also noticed that something strange was happening to the wiring cables. They sparkled with electricity, without shutting off the lights in the nearest buildings. Also, the electricity seemed to move towards certain destination.

Danny was snapped out of his musings when Stan called for him.

"Hey, kid, it's time you prove your skills. I'd stand on guard."

He handed Phantom a credit card to unlock the door, before walking to the corner of the alleyway and looking around. Danny was thankful for that. While Stan wasn't looking, he phased his hand to the other side of the door, before opening it from the inside.

"Done," he informed the old man.

"Already?" Stan asked surprised. "Heh, you remind me myself when I was younger."

Before Phantom could decide was that a compliment or should he feel insulted, his hearing caught some disturbing sounds on the distance. With a thought 'What the hell happened this time,' Danny left Stan alone. He ran around the corner and inside the mall, where people were running in terror from a kiddy pizzeria. He didn't have time to get there, the entrance was shut by a metal door. Of course, he could punch his way through, or simply pull it up and open, hence supernatural strength, but it would be suspicious. The cameras were everywhere. The only place without them was...

"Oh, hello, good old times," Danny muttered.

He ran to the toilet, where he became invisible and intangible. Running through several walls, he appeared behind the counter in the pizzeria. And they were either filming a 'Terminator' remake, or there were real animatronical machines trying to kill the customers. Probably the last one. Different animalistic robots were attacking the twins and some young woman. Danny became visible, before searching for a weapon.

It didn't take him long to find the weapon. It was a steel water pipe lying nearby. Probably during all that mess it was hit and broken. Phantom picked the pipe and jumped over the counter, attacking the nearest rat animatronic. One swing of the pipe with the strength he amplified, and the robot was reduced to the level of trash.

"Danny!" Both twins exclaimed in the same time.

Phantom gave them a deadpan look. "You can't be left alone, can you?" He asked.

Another rat approached him, but Danny dodged its clawed hands, before spunning around and hitting its head, sending it flying across the room. He used the pipe to block a hit from some strange bear. Danny pushed it back, before the blond woman hit it in the back with a chair. Phantom then attacked another mechanical beast - a toad. Alright, it didn't sound that terrifying. The pipe, however, was hit away by another robot. It grabbed his arms and took him in a handlock, but Phantom suddenly spun around with his captor and dropped his head. Another robot hit his comrade.

When his hands were free, Danny threw the captor on the ground. He picked the pipe and striked at the downed robot with a fierce roar. Its glowing crimson eyes shut down as it stopped to move. He turned around and striked the toad in its head, making bolts and twists fly everywhere.

Pines twins meanwhile watched with awe how the raven haired teen was literally beating the crap out of the psychotic machines. How did he manage to lift the heavy animatronics was a mystery. He must be really strong under that baggy T-shirt of his. But then, why hide it? The way he thought was ferocious, and the twins had a feeling that he was trying to rip them apart instead of beating. His hits left no chance to live after, and that was rather unsettling. He wouldn't do that to a living being. Right?

"Well, well, who is next?" Phantom asked, slowly hitting the pipe with his hand, with a creepy grin on his face.

Suddenly the robots shut down by themselves. Danny raised his eyebrow.

"Already surrendering? What a pity," he commented, before looking at the twins, who flinched unvoluntairy.

Danny sighed, before dropping the pipe and coming closer. He sat on one knee and lowered himself to their eye level, smiling slightly.

"You guys alright?" he asked with sudden worry.

"That. Was. So cool!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Heh, thanks...I guess," Danny rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous smile.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?!" Dipper asked in shock.

"I thought that the scar clearly states that I didn't have the easiest life. I had to fight in order to survive," he chuckled sadly, "But enough about that, where is Soos?"

"Oh, there he is!" Mabel squalled happily.

Soos seemed to have a touchy conversation with that blond lady from before.

'Eh, DP,' Bill spoke in his head, 'Even a clumsy oaf got himself a girlfriend. When will you?'

Danny was about to respond, but from a ball pool came an elderly woman, who had some similar features with the underpaid Shack worker. She had puffy gray hair and a magenta dress straight from the 50's. Danny actually jumped in surprise at her sudden appearances. Of all the things he expected to come out from the pool, an old lady was one of the last things.

"Madame Abuelita?" Dipper asked in surprise. "Were you watching this all along?"

"Soos' life is my soap opera," she answered with a smile.

Danny snorted in amusement. "Alright kids, this fight lifted my mood. How about we go get ice-cream and leave the lovebirds alone?"

"Yeah/sure," the twins responded, following the half ghost out of the pizzeria through the back doors.


	5. Chapter V: Suspicion

The following week has been rather calm. Pines started to get used to the fact that they had another resident in their house. Danny may be closed in himself, except maybe around Wendy and her buds, but he seemed like a nice guy to them. And the fact that he bought them ice cream had nothing to do with that assumption. Still, no matter how the twins tried to pull him away from that seclusion he remained in most of the time, he kept resisting.

Phantom wasn't avoiding them, but kept quiet when they were around, unless they spoke to him.

On one clear evening Danny got on the roof of the Shack. It would be a huge crime for the half ghost to miss such a beautiful sunset. There was something peaceful in the daily event. After living for so long in a place where day or night weren't relevant, it was a nice change of scenery. Danny lied on his back, with a can of soda in his hand. One of the perks of having ice abilities - your drink will remain cold when you hold it.

His hearing suddenly caught movements behind, along with the sound of the opening trapdoor. Phantom dropped his head backwards, only to see Dipper climbing out on the roof. Of all the people he was the last one Danny should accompany. Nevertheless, he tried to keep cool arounf the person who would make him lose his competition. But he had to remain close, or it will be unfair. If Danny spends the entire summer inside the cave out of anyone's view, then what chances Dipper will have?

"Hey, Dips, what's up?" Danny greeted, using the nickname he gave him.

"Hey Danny," Dipper responded without enthusiasm. He didn't like that nickname.

He sat near the half ghost and picked a soda can from the mini fridge, before prying it open.

"What are you doing out here?" Dipper asked.

Danny shrugged. "Nothing as of now. I'm waiting till the night."

"That's why you brought telescope?"

"Precisely."

"And Gruncle Stan was fine with it?" He asked incrediously.

"Well, I DID help him in his...small adventure a week ago, I think I deserve some reward. Plus, Stan is currently in Las Vegas, having fun with Goldie, what he doesn't know wouldn't do him any harm."

Dipper hummed thoughtfully, looking at the fruit inside the can. A silence settled after that, and the preteen kid started to walk around mindlessly.

"So...you are in astronomy, aren't you?"

Danny snorted. "What gave it away?" He asked sarcastically. "Yeah, when I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut."

"And what stops you now?"

Phantom sighed, "My grades, for one thing. I fail, like, EVERYTHING," he moved his hands in the opposite directions, proving his point that he and his plans went completely different paths.

"Why? You don't look stupid."

"Uhm...thanks?" Danny said uncertainly, before sighing again. "It's just...a lot of things happened, which led to my bad grades and me being expelled. But, hey, I have nothing to complain about right now. And who you want to be?"

"I'll tell you..." Dipper answered longingly. "If you promise not to laugh."

Phantom raised his hand in 'scout's honor' sign. "Alright, I promise."

"I want to be a...paranormal investigator. Now, before you say something, it's actually..."

"Hey, that's fine, I believe you."

"You...do?"

"Sure thing, I mean, my parents were ghost hunters, although there weren't any at the moment. I never believed in all their theories and findings on supernatural stuff, until I saw them myself. My town got infested by ghosts, ranging from the weak ones to the level ten."

"Wait, how do you know that they have power levels?"

"Dude, I just said that my parents hunted them for the living. And, my Dad always babbled about three things - ghosts, fudge and ham. I know a lot of things about the ghosts. Also I learned about different sorts of fudge and ham, and which of them are the best, but that's not relevant. My point is, if ghosts do exist, why not gnomes, for example?"

"Yeah," Dipper snickered, "Mabel's first crush was a bunch of gnomes standing on each other. Their king wanted to marry her."

Danny laughed as well. Jeff seemed like a real alpha male, that's for sure. Note the sarcastical tone of that statement.

"I'm afraid to imagine their wedding picture," he commented. "The ring for her would be a bracelet for him."

"We have even met some ghosts here."

If Dipper looked down, he would have noticed a sudden change in Danny's expression.

"You have?" Phantom asked darkly.

Dipper missed the tone of his statement. "Yeah, they, uh...kinda possessed Mabel and tried to suck a bunch of teenagers into some alternate dimension...and one turned into a hot dog," he took a dramatic pose, or at least what he thought was a dramatic pose. "We defeated them, though."

"Sounds rough," Danny murmured, "Are they gone now?"

"Nah, they are still in the old 'Dusk 2 dawn', no one goes there, but they won't mess with anyone who isn't a teenager...Danny?"

"Huh? You said something?"

"You are not planning on actually going there, are you?"

Danny looked back with a sheepish look on his face. "And miss your scary glares whenever Wendy simply looks at me? No way!" He laughed, before getting up. "I'll go find something interesting to do until night. See ya."

With that he used the ladder to get back inside the Shack. Phantom took the way towards his room, shutting the door behind him. He started to dig inside his bag, searching for one item in particular. He took out a silver cylinder with green outlines and smirked.

Dipper really didn't know what to do at the moment, so he stood on the roof and was throwing stones at the totem. He wondered where the target was gone. Suddenly, something caught his eye. Dipper looked down from the roof and his eyes widened. Danny walked down the path and away from the Shack in direction of one particular shop.

'What is he doing?!' Dipper yelled mentally. 'He is a teenager! Those two will turn him into potato chips!'

He started to run to the ladder, "Don't worry Danny! I'll save you!"

He stumbled on his feet and realized that his shoelaces were untied. He quickly pushed them inside the shoes instead of tying them and climbed down the ladder. Even if Danny was considered his rival on love front, Dipper couldn't just let him die.

Dipper ran outside and after the raven haired teen. For some reason, he wasn't able to catch up with him. How was that possible? Danny wasn't even running, how could he be that fast? The preteen slowed down and took time to look around. Yep, Dipper's theory was correct, he lost the sight of the half ghost. Coming up with an idea to go straight to the destination point, Dipper took a deep breath, before starting to run again. The sun had fallen below the horizon by the time he reached the place.

Panting from exhaustion after a few miles marathon, he stopped by the tree and leaned on it for support. His heart was ready to burst out of his chest as it pounded violently. However, he finally saw Danny, who was eyeing the metal fence surrounding the shop with a contemplating look on his face.

'Thank goodness, I made it on time,' Dipper thought, panting for the air. 'Now I just have to...'

Suddenly, something odd happened. Danny just made a step forward and appeared on the other side.

'He...he stepped THROUGH the fence?'

Dipper walked down the small hill and looked at the spot where Phantom came through. He touched the fence, and there wasn't a single hole through which the raven haired teen could get through.

'It seems solid...weird.'

His musings were stopped by the loud sounds coming from inside the shop, followed by the different flashes of white, blue and green.

"Oh, no, I forgot to stop him!" He exclaimed in horror.

Danny rolled under the shelf thrown at him. The elderly couple obviously was against leaving that place willingly. He groaned mentally, like ANYONE ever went inside the thermos willingly. They also seemed to be oblivious to what and who he was. That's what happens when you live in a single god forgotten shop without interacting with the outer world. Or maybe they didn't know about his human form. Danny stood up, wiping some pink glittering powder from his clothes.

"Looks like we will have to do it hard way," he commented dryly.

A ring of moonlight appeared around his waist, before splitting into two parts and traveling up and down over his body. His ghost half, although saving most of his facial traits, also had drastical changes. His dark locks turned snow white and his ponytail flickered with white fire, which, however, didn't burn him at all. His eyes started to glow with unearthly neon green light. Phantom's outfit consisted black jumpsuit with white outlines, with white gloves and boots and a 'DP' insignia on his chest.

Danny cracked his knuckles and gave a fanged grin. "Oh, I sure missed that."

"You arrogant little..."

"Darling," Ma interrupted her husband with wide eyes. "This symbol..."

"What do you...mean..."

So it was the second variant. They recalled who he was and gulped, which cause Danny's smirk to widen.

"Oh, P-Phantom, you know, on the second thought..."

Phantom narrowed his deathly green eyes, "You lost your chance the second you attacked me."

His hands started to glow with the same color, before two beams erupted from them and they hit the elders dead on. They flew backwards, making spins in the air. Danny started to approach them, taking the thermos from his belt. Duskertons started to send objects into him, as the fear started to rise inside their chests. Their poor hearts couldn't handle the second heart attack, thankfully they were ghosts. They were only level six, and Phantom was at least tenth.

As more of the sharp objects flew at him, Danny simply swiped his free arm and redirected them back at the senders. They became intangible and the objects flew through them. They threw another shelf, but it was blown in pieces with another ectoblast. When Duskertons covered their eyes from the shards, Danny was already near them, and then he shot two another blasts from a distance of one meter. Needless to say, it did the trick. They hit the wall and slipped on the ground, too weak to do anything.

"I actually expected something more," Danny commented, pointing the thermos at them. "Believe me, you will THANK me after I get you to the Ghost Zone."

A white beam came from it, sucking the half unconscious couple inside. Apparently, his ectoblasts were too strong for them to stand against.

'Well, they were effective, after all.'

Danny closed the thermos as he switched into his human form. Whistling a melody under his nose and picking a packet of free chips, he went out of the building. Once he turned around, he jumped in surprise when Dipper stumbled into him and stared at him in shock. Danny's heart skipped a few bits, he didn't really see what happened inside, did he? He tried to shake him off his tail, but Pine Tree somehow managed to come there in time.

"Oh, hey, Dipper," Danny laughed nervously, "What's up?"

"What do you mean 'What's up'?!" Dipper shouted, "What happened in there?!"

"You see...ehm...How much did you see?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"I saw you walk in there without a slightest care and come out ALIVE!"

There are no words to explain how relieved Phantom felt at the moment. He would have made a relieved sigh, but only if he was alone.

"Well, Dips," Danny's nervousness was gone without remains. "I told you I'm a hereditary ghost hunter. This stuff runs in the blood, plus, I brought a weapon," he smiled, shaking a thermos slightly.

"That's a thermos," Dipper deadpanned.

"A FENTON ANTI-GHOST thermos," Danny corrected the smaller kid.

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" Dipper yelled in irritation. "OR TRAPPED INSIDE FOREVER!"

Just how careless that teen could be?

Danny sighed loudly. "Seriously, that's what you think ghosts do?" He deadpanned, "Look, kid. You are probably a great paranormal investigator and all, but I've definitely got seniority when it comes to ghost hunting. Any questions?"

'How did you get through the fence?' Dipper thought, but verbally asked another thing.

"So the ghosts are gone?"

Danny grinned. "Yep, well, they are inside the thermos. I'll do some mumbo jumbo later and release them in the Ghost Zone, where they belong. Free of charge!"

Dipper remained silent.

"Uhm, hey, can I ask you to keep all this ghost hunting a secret? I don't want people to think I'm crazed up wacko, okay?"

Silence.

"Dipper, hey, say something, you are freaking me out."

Dipper shook his head and smiled, "Yeah, sure."

"Great, thanks man. Now let's head home, I believe it's the best time for observations."

Danny walked towards the Shack, but he hadn't noticed Dipper's crossed fingers while he was giving a promise.

A.N. I don't know why I made it a different chapter, I actually planned to put it in the last one.


	6. Chapter VI: One eye less, one eye more

It was four in the morning. Everyone was sound asleep, besides one half ghost. Danny was sitting on his unused bed, reading in the light of ectoenergy in his palm. His mind wasn't occupied by the species' characteristics, however. He was thinking about the recent event, and to say that he was calm would be a mistake. Finally Phantom gripped the book in anger and threw it away, before getting on his feet and starting to stomp around.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He muttered in anger, his eyes flashing green for a moment, releasing the anger which was boiling up the entire night. "How could I slip up so easily? Stupid obsession, I hate you, damn it!" He whisper yelled.

"I need to go for a walk," the ghost teen deadpanned, before opening the window and jumping down on the dirty path.

Putting hands in his pockets Danny walked to the town without any particular purpose in mind. It was really empty at that time. Well, better for him, he didn't exactly crave for company at the moment. The cool and slow night wind was blowing into his face, slightly ruffling his pitch black hair. His peaceful walk was interrupted by a sound of siren. A police car stopped right near the half ghost. He saw that two cops who seem to be the only ones here. Quite incompetent, from what he heard.

"Hey kid, what are you doing here so late?" The Afroamerican one asked.

"Walking," Danny answered, raising his eyebrow.

"Suspiciously walking," another cop narrowed his eyes. "Are you planning to steal anything?"

"The only thing being stolen here is my time."

"Alright, alright, we are going."

They drove away and behind the corner, leaving Phantom dumbfounded. Have they really just instantly believed the words of total stranger? It's a miracle that the town wasn't overcrowded with criminals. Shaking his head, Phantom continued his path. He was on the town's outskirts, when he noticed some movements in the trees. The leaves rustled in a straight line, meaning that it wasn't just wind. Something was in there. And this 'something' was moving towards the Greasy's Dinner. It was closed, but there was still someone inside.

Soon the bushes rustled for the last time, revealing a bunch of gnomes, led by their king himself. Raising his eyebrow, Danny leaned on a tree, curious about what was going on. The small creatures walked to one of the windows, where smoking pie was waiting for them. What was the point of making pie in a midnight? Feeding werewolves? Well, the dish was about to be eaten by hungry garden decorations, who stood on each other in order to reach the window and miserably failing.

Suddenly the doors swung open and a bunch of opossums ran out of the building, followed by Old Man McGucket. Alright, Danny will never eat there again. Lazy Susan went out of the dinner and locked the door behind her. He could hear what she was saying.

"Good night, dinner, good night, trees," she passed near the gnomes. "Good night, little men trying to steal the pie..." Susan stopped abruptly.

Jeff and the others didn't pay attention to her.

"C'mon, get up from your knees," he commanded, "If I don't eat today, I'll have to resort to cannibalism," finally Jeff noticed the audience. "Ma'am," he greeted, taking off the hat.

Susan shrieked in terror and took a few steps back, hitting the phone box. Deciding to call the police and report what she saw, she dialed the number. What happened next, caught Phantom's interest. From behind she was grabbed by a bunch of people in crimson red robes, which hid their faces. They knocked her out, and were about to carry her away, when they heard a voice behind them.

"Now, now, that's not very nice."

They turned around, and saw a white haired ghost, who was sitting on a tree branch with a toothy grin on his face.

"That's none of your concern, ghost," the one in charge said.

"Is it really?" Phantom hung down the tree upside down. "Who are you, anyway?"

"We are not telling. Just begone."

"I am not going anywhere. And I doubt you want to get one angry ten level ghost..." he smiled innocently, tilting his head.

The cultists glanced at each other in concern. "Fine. We need to erase her memory. No one must know about supernatural here."

"You miserably fail, do you know that?" Danny deadpanned.

"We are trying!" Someone moaned in exasperation.

Suddenly Phantom got an idea, "Hmm, do you have a memory erasing thingy or something?"

"Ehm, yes..."

"I need one, give it, please."

"We don't have it with us, it's our most sacred relic."

"Fine, my mouth is shut. But if you will have it, let me do that."

The cultists nodded and went away, leaving Danny alone with the gnomes. One glance of neon eyes was enough to make them run for their lives. Not without the pie, of course. Shaking his head, Phantom became human and went home.

Later that morning everything seemed to go through the routine. The twins were sleeping longer than usual, though, and Soos was too busy listening to some shitty song while cleaning the floor, singing along and aggravating both Danny and Wendy, since he was listening for that stuff for hours.

"Can I break that boombox?" Danny asked the redhead, who was trying to sort T-shirts.

"I don't think Stan will appreciate breaking his stuff..."

"Am I blanchin', girl we blanchin', I live up in a mansion," Soos kept singing.

This is where Wendy ran out of her patience as well. "Ugh," she put her hands on her temples. "I can't kick that terrible song out of my head!" She complained.

Danny smirked, crossing his hands. "My offer still stands."

"Oh, you mean 'Straight Blanchin'' by Little Big Dawgg?" Soos asked. "This is the most catchy song of the summer!"

"What is blanchin'? Rappers can't just make up words!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Rappers are missionaries," Soos said with wide opened eyes. "If they say to eat my pants, I'll do it."

And rather conveniently, the song said him to do just that. "I guess I have no choice," Soos responded, unzipping his pants.

Before anyone could react, the twins ran into the shop. "Guys, we need to see Old Man McGucket!" Dipper rambled.

"We will explain on the way!" Mabel added, pulling Wendy behind her.

Soos followed, and Danny, not willing to be the only one left, ran after them, despite Stan's complaints. The ghost teen was disgusted when Soos really started eating his pants.

They went to the town junkyard, and Danny had to admit, for a settlement this size they had everything they may need. And boy, was it big for a settlement this size. He wondered however, what Dipper had in mind, the boy forgot to tell what's going on. What could he want from an old nutcase who lives in such place? Dipper started calling for the Old Man, but to no effort. Soon, however, they found a house made of junk, and they also saw Nate and Lee, who wrote 'Old Man McSuckIt' on the wall. Looks like they actually decided to do it.

McGucket ran out of his home, threatening to beat them with a stick. Sadly his old organism didn't allow him to get them. Then he saw them.

"Ah, visitors!" He exclaimed joyfully.

Old Man led them inside his house, not letting his guests to say a word. The insides looked just like the outside. Meaning it looked like it was about to collapse.

"Come, come, you are just in time for my hourly turmoil with Billy who lives in my mirror," he gestured at the polished basin. "Quit staring at me!" He shouted at his reflection.

Danny looked at Wendy and waved his finger around his temple and whistled, making her snicker for a bit.

"You can drop the act, McGucket," Dipper said seriously. "I know you are the Author," he explained, taking out his Journal.

Danny tried not to burst laughing, which was immensely hard. Oh, poor boy, wait till reality drops on his head. Phantom will stay quiet, just to see the kid's face when he finds out. It will be hilarious.

"You learnt the mysteries of this town and wrote them in this book," Dipper poked at the book cover.

"Dude, you are the genius we have been searching for the whole summer," Wendy added, taking the broken laptop from the backpack.

Phantom looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't actually believe that that idiot was the author?

"Eh, genius?" McGucket asked, obviously surprised himself. "I'm no genius," he shook his head and turned away. "I never done anything worthwhile in my life. I can't remember what I did in the past, but there has to be some failure."

"But the laptop has your name on it," Soos argued.

"There is this book. Are you sure you didn't write it?" Dipper opened the journal on random page. "Here, look closely."

"I told you, I don't recall," McGucket answered, but still examined the pages. "Everything before 1982 is just a hazy...AH, AH, THE BLIND EYE!" He retreated in the far corner of the room. "The robes, the man, they did something to my mind!" He rambled in fear.

Danny snatched the journal and looked at what scared him so much. Now he recalled, too. The cultists had that symbol on their robes. You don't need to be a Sherlock to figure out what had happened. It was probably a false lead, just like the entire assumption that Old Man wrote the book. Dipper only now realized that Phantom was holding his journal. The boy snatched it back, and Danny only shrugged. Dipper realized he couldn't send the teen away, too suspicious, so he needed to bare his company.

Phantom was snapped out from his own thoughts when he heard Wendy talking.

"Think, dude, what's the earliest thing you remember?" She asked.

McGucket looked around. "Uh, this, I think," he took a list of newspaper and showed it. There was a title 'Disoriented man found at museum.'

Looks like they knew where to go. A few seconds later the group, accompanied by McGucket sitting in a cargo part of Soos' car, rode to the museum. And the owner of the car just had to turn on 'Straight blanchin''.

This is when Danny had enough. Once the disk came out from the player, he snapped it in two and threw them out of the window. He noticed Soos' look.

"I'll buy you a new one," Phantom sighed, and that was enough for the overweight man. He felt a slight nudge to the right.

"Thanks for that," Wendy whispered.

"You are welcome," Danny smirked.

Once near the museum, they were greeted by the first obstacle. It was closed at the moment and so the door was locked. While everyone kept looking around for another entrance, Danny decided to pick the lock. Glancing around, he used telekinesis to turn the lock around. One gentle push and the door was opened.

"Hey guys," he called and everyone looked at him. "Visiting hours have just begun," he gestured towards the entrance and his companions' eyes widened.

"How did..."

Danny smirked. "Companies don't reveal their secrets," he interrupted Dipper.

They entered the building and scattered around in search of something weird. Danny was eyeing the surroundings, even though he wasn't sure about how to proceed and for what should he search exactly. Phantom rubbed his chin, examining the pictures of the first settlers. The only suspicious thing was how dusty the picture was. Danny traced his finger along the picture's frame, leaving a trail behind. Someone had to do the cleaning.

Suddenly he heard something. Briefly glancing around the corner, he saw a hooded figure entering some room. And he wasn't the only one. Dipper immediately ran there, making the others follow. Danny was the last one, but he was stopped when he noticed one detail on one of the pictures. It was supposed to be a depiction of two proud excavators. Ones head was too triangular and too one-eyed. Dannys expression became unreadable.

"Could you be more unnoticeable?" Phantom deadpanned.

"Oh, cmon, DP, admit that that is funny!" The excavator spoke from the picture.

"I'm more interested in what you are doing here."

"Well, you know, watching your back as a good buddy."

Danny looked at him not impressed. "You used to come up with more belieavable lies."

"You hurt my feelings, DP."

Phantom shrugged and was about to walk off, but Bill spoke again.

"I don't recommend you to go there. Mr. Extra fingers petty cultists are down there," the demon said nonchalantly, looking at his hands.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, ya know. Erasing the town folk's memory so no one finds out about the weird things."

"Oh, I have something to erase from my mind. So no worries."

Danny waved his hand and went in the required direction. When he got to the room where everyone went to, Phantom suddenly discovered that they were gone.

"Just peachy. What now?"

"Simple, my dear friend. Just phase under the ground and you will find a secret passage," Bill appeared near him.

Phantom followed the advice, but became invisible beforehand. So far it was only what looked like a clean catacomb. Okay, that was weird enough. Suddenly Danny heard the footsteps. Since he was invisible, Phantom remained calm as a robed cultist passed nearby. Then a light bulb appeared above his head. Once he was alone, Danny changed into his ghost form. The cultists would have reacted to the humans, but if they saw a familiar ghost...

Grinning, Phantom calmly walked down the corridor, whistling under his nose. The place was really looking like a dungeon, with torches and brick walls.

"It is unseen!" He heard a chanting choir. Apparently, the cultists were in the hall.

Danny peaked his snow haired head from behind the corner. There was also Lazy Susan, who was being carried away. One of the cultists had some kind of pistol, with several lightbulbs. Danny calmly coughed and went forward. Everyone's eyes turned in his direction, and some of the robed men jumped in fright.

"Hello there, looks like we meet again," Danny grinned.

"Who are you, trespasser?" The guy in charge pointed a finger at him as he spoke in low, but loud voice.

Then another cultist whispered something to him.

"Oh, ehm, sorry for shouting, hehe," the guy coughed. "What is it you need?"

Suddenly Danny's neon green eyes noticed what was on the left. He cursed mentally at seeing the rest of his group there, where the robed weirdos could easily see them shall they look where needed. And they noticed him looking at them and flinched.

"Well, your buddies have promised to lend me this little memory gun. I'll give it back, promise," the half ghost said, slowly walking around and making them turn away from his acquitances.

The cultists looked at each other. They knew better than to provoke the ghost. Danny got a weapon in his hands.

"You aren't going to do anything to us, right?"

"Hm, probably not, I need something else."

Phantom used the wheel in the backside of the weapon to write 'Stan's underwear'. Yeah, that's basically the thing he wanted to forget. He shot at his head. His expression became deadpan.

"Aand it didn't work. Maybe because the ghosts don't have brains. Oh well, can't blame brother for trying."

"Who is this guy?" Mabel asked quietly.

"He looks like a ghost, but..." Dipper started, before digging into the Journal. "It is said that the high level ghosts have a material form. He is probably very old. And powerful."

"And cute..." his sister replied.

McGucket started slapping himself in his own sign language.

"Wait, have you noticed that he moved their eyes away from us?" Wendy asked.

Everyone blinked and looked at the cultists again. Danny meanwhile looked at the guy in charge, who had a very impressive and strong looking pale chin.

"I guess I will be going."

"Wait a second. How did you know that we are here?"

"Heh, my buddy said that. Do you know him? Triangle yellow fellow, one eye, annoying ?"

Dipper and Mabel gasped. It couldn't be...

"Speak honestly."

"Fine, I just saw one of you sneaking in and putting on your robes."

The twins sighed in relief, but Dipper was now interested. In order to lie about Bill, that ghost had to know about him.

"So, do I have to just fly up?"

The cultists shrugged. It was weird to see how casually the robed men said goodbyes to each other. Danny was alone in the room. Once it was empty, Phantom looked at the group. It was going to either be hell of a fun or disaster. He should have considered them being there.

"I guess you are not the members of their bathrobe club?"

The humans went to the center of the room, they didn't really have a choice. Dipper had narrowed eyes, but Danny paid no attention to that, fiddling with his white gloves. Wendy and Mabel couldn't help but notice that for the ghost he was quite...ripped. Tight jumpsuit didn't help the matters.

"Who are you?" Dipper asked.

"I have many names. But so it will be easier, call me Phantom," Danny crossed his legs in midair, putting hands behind his head. "So, what have ya forgotten here, folks?" He asked.

'Well, at least he is not trying to kill us,' the all knowing preteen thought.

"We were looking for the 'Blind Eye' dudes," Wendy said, making air quotes. "Seems like we found them."

"No wonder. Hey, do you by any chance know the guy in the museum? He looks to be the red's age."

They looked around, and noticed that one member of the group was absent.

"Oh, crap, we forgot Danny," Soos said.

"So that's his name? He said he had lost you."

"Yeah," Dipper mumbled.

'I wonder why he let YOU go,' he thought, before remembering what he wanted to ask.

"You have mentioned a triangular person, does he look like this?" Dipper showed Bill's image.

"Yeep. I know Bill, personally."

"What exactly do you know?" The preteen pried.

"Jeez, you have picked the best place for interrogation, kid," Danny replied sarcastically. "He really is annoying. Can't buzz off from his self proclaimed BFF, namely me. But he is harmless at where I live. Sort of. Anyways, I'll go tell that Danny-boy where you are. Ta!"

"Wait, I want to ask something else!"

"Chaooo!"

Phantom vanished and flew behind the walls, before becoming visible. He changed into human form and held his laughter inside as much as he could, hoping that no one would hear him. His friend was sitting on the nearest box, holding his nonexistent belly and laughing as well.

"Aw, that was priceless, DP," Bill wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. "But I still feel insulted."

Danny regained his composure and shrugged. "You never was insulted when I said harsher things."

"You are right. You can sound so assuring, my friend. Also, you are one step closer to being revealed, so I'm feeling better."

"Oh, don't be so sure. The entire government branch, my evil genius for a godfather and the city couldn't figure anything out by just looking at me."

"Great, now I feel crestfallen again."

Phantom shrugged again and went out of the room. Bill appeared in front of him.

"I strongly insist that you listen to what else I have to say."

"What is it? I have to go."

"That memory gun can have rather nasty effects. That old nutcase became like this when he erased his memory too many times. Poor little idiot couldn't just live after that meeting with Gremloblin. Don't overuse it."

"Is it a useful advice I hear?"

"Hey, when have I given you the wrong advice?"

"I don't know, maybe when you said that eating the fruits you had brought was a good idea?"

"Heh, I remember that one."

Danny narrowed his eyes and stomped out of the room. Soon he reached the same hall. There were now only Wendy and Mabel.

'Oh, my, there are only girls,' Bill said now in his head. 'Go for her.'

Phantom blushed. 'She is only twelve, damn it.'

He heard a facepalm. 'I meant the red,' the dream demon groaned.

Danny shook his head and went forward.

"You know, you could at least call me," Phantom called as he approached them. He tried to sound offended.

The girls laughed nervously. "Sorry, dude, we tried to catch up with them," Wendy apologized.

"Apology accepted. You didn't do that on purpose. So, where are others?"

"They went along these pipes," Mabel pointed at the glasstubes going under the ceiling. "Dipper wants to find Old Man McGucket's memories. We are here on watch."

"Well, I've seen weirder stuff," Danny sat nearby.

They just sat on the small staircase. The raven haired teen then noticed the sad expression of the younger girl.

"What is it, Mabel?" He asked.

"Eh, I just don't get it. Why so many of my romances failed? What am I doing wrong?" Mable asked in exasperation, lying on her back.

"I'm not sure I am the one to whom you should adress this question."

"Yeah, boys, what do they understand, right?" Wendy nudged her friend with a smirk.

Danny narrowed his ice blue eyes in a playful manner. "It's not because of that."

Wendy shrugged, but Mabel still didn't seem so confident. The redhead then came up with an idea.

"Alright, let's imagine I'm a boy," she put the edges of her long hair and made something like mustache. "Testosterone," Wendy said in a manly voice, before spewing to the side.

"You do realize I am a boy right?" Danny asked.

"No offense, but I seem more manly," Wendy kept talking in that voice.

Phantom then dug in his clothes and took out a black hair. "See, totally a chest hair."

They all started laughing.

"Anyways, try talking to me."

Mabel took a deep sigh. "Hello, I'm Mabel, I'm twelve, I own a pig, wanna get married?"

Danny choked back his laughter, while Wendy wasn't even trying to.

"So, what do you think?" The girl asked.

"Honestly, it was perfect."

"Really?" Both Danny and Mabel asked in unison.

"Yeah, you just keep being you. I think you should just forget about all that stuff."

"Forget!" Mabel gasped.

She ran to the chair, where the memory gun was. The girl took it in her hands as two teens approached her.

"Let's not make drastic decisions," Danny said cautiously.

"He is right, Mabel," Wendy added. "Who knows what else this thing can do?"

"Relax, it's only for one time."

Suddenly Danny perked up, getting everyone's attention.

"Did you hear that?" Hs whispered.

"What?"

Phantom picked up a small stone, which used to be a part of the stone plate on the floor. He then spun around and hurled the stone. Everyone heard a loud pained yelp. The girls turned in direction of the sound. One of the cultists sprawled on the ground. The hood was off, and there was some aged man with brown mustache and glasses. On his forehead was a tiny stream of blood where the stone hit him. Mabel and Wendy gasped.

"Toby Determined?!"

"Please tell me it's not his real last name," Danny begged.

"Have you killed him?" Mabel asked in horror.

Phantom snorted and approached the fallen man. He checked the pulse. "Nope. No serious harm done."

"I knew he was a creep but to actually be one of them..." Wendy said. "Nice throw, I guess."

"Heh, well, it's a good thing I didn't try TOO hard."

'I doubt that a hole in his head combines with life,' Bill noted.

Danny then got a thought. That couldn't actually hope to get three of them alone, unless...he wasn't.

"Hey, let us go!" Mabel exclaimed behind him.

He turned around and saw that the girls were held by two of the cultists, while their leader was now facing the half ghost.

"Nice try, boy, but have you really thought that we were going to just let you go after what you have seen?" He asked.

"That was the actual plan, yeah," Danny said offhandedly, startling the guy.

"Wait, aren't you afraid?"

"Of what? A bunch of dudes in the bathrobes from the nearest worn stuff store?"

"Danny, it's not the time for fooling around!" Wendy complained.

"Oh, I thought you liked that. Fine, Mr. Bigchin, I surrender," Danny outstretched his hands dramatically, causing everyone to gape at him. "Well?"

The leader approached him, taking a rope out of nowhere. But the second he got close enough, Danny moved his hands upwards, hitting the man in his jaw. He yelped in pain and staggered backwards, and that was all Phantom needed. He quickly approached the man and punched him again. The leader tried to retaliate, he knew that his fellow cultists weren't going to help him, since they were trying to hold other captives. But Danny lazily protected himself, twisted the man's hand, which was supposed to land a punch, and kicked him in the stomach. Then Phantom grabbed the edge of his opponent's robe and launched him at one of the goons.

During the leader's impact with an overweight cultist Mabel managed to climb out of the cultist's grip. She quickly got behind Danny's back. Recalling the events during Soos' love misadventure, she felt quite confident in the outcome.

Wendy was unlucky to be held by a man of enormous size and strength. She pinned the goon's foot with her boot, but he only snorted and held her tighter. The redhead cursed mentally.

"Hey, a little help here?" She asked.

Danny, who had just punched another goon again, looked at her.

"Don't worry, princess, your manly dragon has one weak spot," He called loudly with a grin, before blocking another hit.

Wendy raised an eyebrow, until a realization dawned upon her. She smirked evilly, before using her still free leg to kick the giant's weak spot between the legs. He squealed in pain and loosened the grip on the redhead. It was enough for Wendy to get out, while the man just dropped on the ground, keeping himself from crying. She joined the others in a split second.

"Nice deduction," Danny complimented.

"Nice advice," Wendy responded with a smile.

"Enough!"

The leader took a memory gun and pointed it at them. Alright, now it was becoming nasty. Danny needed to think something. And quick.

"Say goodbye to your memories!" He exclaimed, before a loud metal clang sounded across the room.

The leader dropped unconscious. Behind him stood McGucket with a bent shovel in his arms.

"Heya, kids!" He waved at them. "I have visited the mining exhibition and found the weapons. Quick, we've got to save others!"

"Wait a moment," Danny walked from one robed man to another, kicking each one in the face, rendering them unconscious. "Alright, let's go."

On the way to the even lower levels Danny was choosing an instrument. He took a pickaxe and grinned wickedly.

"Danny, no," Wendy said.

Phantom pouted and took another shovel instead. When they got to another room, the group saw two more cultists, who were looking at Dipper and Soos, who were bind to the column. Danny's lips thinned.

"Seriously, that's all?" He whispered. "Alright, Wendy, you take the left one, the right is mine."

The redhead nodded, before taking another shovel. Two teens slowly and quietly approached the cultists, before simultaneously hitting their heads. Needless to say that they were knocked out. Danny looked at the tied captives and smirked.

"Need a hand?" He asked.

McGucket ran to them, the pickaxe ablaze, before slashing the rope. They were now free. After that the group decided to bind the cultists they had knocked out for further interrogation. It didn't take long, but as they finished, most of them were conscious.

"Untie us immediately!" The leader bellowed.

"Now, let's see who are under these hoods," Dipper said, before starting to flip the hoods.

"Bud Gleeful? Woodpecker guy? Tats? Conman guy?" The group members named the revealed cultists' names, while Danny just watched, thinking how similar it looked to the similar scenes from one famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

Then it came to the leader. Once the hood fell, they saw a very pale bald man, with a red scar across one of the eyes, his skull was patterned with the lines, showing different parts of the brain hidden beneath.

"Who are you?"

"I am Blind Ivan, and I'm not going to tell you anything!" He exclaimed.

"You have already told us your name, pal," Danny grinned. No one could understand when the memory gun got in his hands. "I think it will be most unfortunate if you forget it, right?" He asked, pointing it at him.

Everyone just stared at him. They had gotten used to Phantom's less than moral acts, but he was doing it for the latter good. But he either played for the captive, or he enjoyed himself at the moment. They mostly sided with the first thing.

"A-alright, alright! This is a Society of the Blind Eye..."

Ivan then proceeded to tell how their founder had created this organization, so they would erase the locals' memories in order to keep everyone's sanity intact. Of course, the side effect from constant usage was this same insanity, but it wasn't the case. No one could recall who the founder was, however. In return, the members of the Blind Eye could erase their memory as much as they could. Speaking of, Danny wanted to try erasing the required memory again.

"You are now going to let us go, right?" Bud Gleeful asked hopefully.

Phantom wasn't looking at them, fiddling with the gun. "Ehm...no. Not before this."

He fired at them.

A few minutes later the kids, along with Soos and McGucket walked the 'tourists who had forgotten what they were doing there' and 'McBumbersnazzle the bard' (don't ask how THIS thing happened) out of the museum. Then they finally got their hands on McGucket's memories. As they were walking downstairs, Wendy was near Danny.

"Where did you learn to fight so awesomely?" She asked.

"Experience, I guess," he shrugged.

"Can you teach me some things?"

"Sure, why not?"

One preteen boy paled.


	7. Chapter VII: Strength

A.N. So, I'm back from the wonderful trip to Moscow. It was nostalgic to stay in the hotel where I was at the age of six. I was introduced to the dean of the faculty I'm planning on studying in. I hope I've left a nice impression. Still have to pass exams, though.

"I just don't get it. What did she find in him?"

That day was going to come down in history. The day when Dipper was having a civil conversation with Robbie Valentino of all people. The teen had black hair in emo style, pale skin and several piercings in his ears. Robbie was wearing his usual skinny jeans, which got him a nickname from one shady Mystery Shack owner, and a black hoodie with a picture of the stitched bleeding heart on it. The teen looked even more gloomy than usual as he stared at the transpiring scene in front of them.

Danny went through with Wendy's request. Besides, he didn't have anything else to do. Once she got a time to spare between her shifts and other activities, he found a spot to show her some tricks. Stan hadn't allowed them to practice inside, but the weather was nice that day, so just outside did fine. He was wearing his white and red long sleeve T-shirt, while Wendy tied her green shirt around her waist, so it could be easier for the redhead to train in hand-to-hand. That's what they were doing, she listened, while Danny explained and demonstrated.

"Eh, I don't know," Dipper said slowly, still unaccustomed talking like that to Robbie. "It doesn't mean that they are together just because they are doing something together, enjoy the same music, hang out..." he stated the examples, sounding less and less confident with each word. "I don't know. Maybe because of the black hair and that creepy blue eyes of his."

"I have black hair too," Robbie mumbled. "It's not that important."

Meanwhile Danny raised his hand and blocked the hit, before his face gained a calculative look.

"That's a nice one. Just move your left leg a bit closer."

Wendy did as he told. "So, what's next?"

"Well, you are in a good physical shape, but if the opponent is too strong to overpower, what shall we do?"

"Step aside?"

"Exactly, the enemy's force will act against him. Try this on me."

Danny leaped forward and the redhead smoothly moved aside, additionally pushing the half ghost forward. But Danny managed to react and grabbed her hand, twisting and locking it carefully, in order not to harm her. He smirked smugly at the girl, who was trying to get out.

"Easy there, let's not run ahead of the train. But nice thinking."

"Thanks. Nice move too," Wendy smiled.

Danny and Wendy blushed slightly once they realized their position in a such close contact, but the first suddenly smirked again, before flipping her over and on the ground. The girl yelped at the motion and grunted slightly as she landed on the green grass. She looked up at Danny and narrowed her eyes.

"What was that for?"

"You should be more careful, red, that's another lesson. Be on guard."

Wendy suddenly smirked. She then swiped her leg and Danny lost his balance, unprepared for retaliation. He fell.

"Be on guard, City Boy," she said, before they both laughed.

Then they realized that Danny was atop of her. Phantom immediately rolled to the side and on the ground. They were silent after that. Wendy looked at the clock on her phone.

"Oh, sorry, dude, I've got to go," she said, jumping on her feet putting the green shirt on.

"It's not like I'm going anywhere," Danny responded, getting into sitting position.

He ran a hand through his hair as she went away. Phantom smiled, it was quite fun. Then he noticed that they had an audience.

"Hey, guys!" Danny called and waved to them.

"You are right," Robbie mumbled and shivered, while Dipper slowly waved back. "His eyes ARE creepy."

Phantom's vivid ice blue eyes blinked at their reaction, while he didn't hear the phrase.

The rest of the day was boring for Danny. He didn't have many things to do. And he was not going to work for the old man for free. Danny came there to relax and win the argument with a talking dorito. It sounded more confusing when he thought about this. But nevertheless, everything was going quite smoothly. Of course, Dipper kept giving the half ghost weird glances, writing something down. Alright, he was obviously trying to solve the riddle Danny Fenton was.

That's why the half ghost tried to be as discreet as possible. It wasn't hard, really, he just had to stop using his abilities. Part of the time Dipper was too busy trying to identify the writer of the journal. One day the preteen confronted the half ghost and demanded to know how the elderly ghost couple was doing. Not seeing the reason why not, Danny showed him the thermos.

"How does it work?" Dipper asked.

"Nope, you asked me to show it. I did, but I never said I'd tell you how it works," the teen teased and smirked. "Because I know that you will later jump into action and possibly get yourself killed," he then deadpanned.

Besides, he didn't want to teach the human how to use the weapon against him. But, more or less, the younger kid was satisfied that the ghosts were fine. Even if they did try to kill him, they didn't seem to be all that bad.

At the same day, during the lunch, Danny decided to waste Bill's money. Because he could. Not wanting to go to some fancy-to-hurling restaurant, he resorted to the familiar diner. He got used to the food served there. It was quite tolerable, besides, he preferred being there, rather than under Dipper's constant overwatch in the shack. As he was putting a piece of shepherd's pie in his mouth, the door swung open.

Danny thought that the man who came through the entrance was one of the largest people he had ever seen. And that said something, his father used to be a real giant. He had that lumber look about him, with ginger head, hair of the same vivid color in all imaginable places. He was accompanied by several small kids with the same red hair. Danny wouldn't have paid attention if not for the fact that Wendy was there as well. She quickly spotted him.

"Hey, dude," she called and approached him, while the others sat at their own table. Quite loudly.

"Hello there," Danny responded, still eyeing the noisy family. "Are those your..."

"Yeah, those are my Dad and brothers."

"He is...big."

"I know right?"

"Although my father could compete, I think," Danny chuckled. "Well, I won't interrupt your family time, I guess. I'll just be a ghost," he said longingly.

Wendy snorted, "Heh, don't worry about this, it will be a while until they decide on what to eat," she flopped on a chair.

"Are you so hungry that you are ready to pick from my table?" Danny asked, finally getting to his food.

"Well, if you insist..."

The redhead took a french fry from another plate, causing Danny to look at her with a deadpan expression, which made her laugh.

Suddenly her father appeared from nowhere. How did such a gargantuan person manage to do it so quietly?

"What do we have here? Another boyfriend of yours, Wendy?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the unwavering half ghost.

Both teens flushed. "What?! Dad, no it is not..."

"Quite wimpy, like the last one," The lumber still examined Danny.

"Dad..."

"Who are you calling wimpy?!" Phantom rose from his seat. It looked just as unthreatening as an ant trying to scare the boot.

Wendy groaned and facepalmed. Why didn't he just stay quiet? Danny was just pissed at being called a weakling. He had enough of it before, and he wasn't going to tolerate it now. Besides, the guy didn't know with whom he was messing with. The man was actually surprised that the kid stood up to him, not that he didn't respect that. Of course he did, it was a manly thing to do. Nevertheless, the kid needed to know what he could and what he couldn't do.

"One scar doesn't make you the toughest around here," The man said. "And you are still able to see."

"Maybe not," Danny tilted his head. "And yes, I do see despite the wound. I'm not saying that THIS," he pointed at the scar, "Makes me stronger. I'm merely saying that you shouldn't judge the book by cover."

"Danny, Dad, please stop it already," Wendy begged in the exhausted tone. "Everyone is staring."

Two males glanced around and there indeed was a crowd.

"Want to prove your words, boy, or are you going to admit everything?"

Danny cracked his knuckles. "Bring it."

The lumber immediately swapped aside all the food on Danny's table. With a very loud thud he put his elbow on it, previously moving the sleeve up to the shoulder, showing his huge and hairy arm. So, wrestling it was. Phantom moved the sleeve of his white T as well. It was neither the hairy or as muscular as his opponent's. Some observant people noted several thin or thick cuts and bruises. As Danny put his hand on the table, the redhead smirked as his palm completely engulfed Phantom's.

"Ready to lose, boy?"

"How can I be ready for the impossible?"

"Make bets, everyone!" Lazy Suzan immediately jumped into the opportunity. If only Stan was there at the moment.

The bets were placed more than unfairly. None bet on Phantom. The teen pouted.

"I bet on myself then," Danny said.

No one complained. They were going to make money that day. Oh, how wrong they were. Finally, Suzan made a signal.

Everyone expected Danny to lose immediately, but the half ghost wanted a show. Besides, he didn't want to look REALLY weird. Just weird was enough. No one ever thought that he would resist. He put on a mask of monstrous effort, while his opponent found himself actually trying to push the half ghost to the surface of the metal table. The people just stared. How was he able to hold back such a giant? After two or so minutes, the man was sweating like mad, while Danny was yet to do so. Phantom made a forced smirk.

"Getting tired?" He asked between ragged breaths. He was darn good at pretending.

"You wish..." the ginger said through the tightly gritted teeth.

But the matters took a turn for the worst for him when Danny got bored. The teen started to slowly overpower the giant. With the last push, Phantom pinned the opponent's hand to the table with a very loud metallic sound. He received no applause. And he knew why. He had just got all their money. Sighing, Danny put a hand on his face.

"Fine, keep your money."

The crowd broke out in cheers.

'Ah, at such moments I understand that I'll always have fun,' Bill said in a dreamy tone within Danny's head.

Some people were still in shock at what happened, and Wendy was among them.

"How is this possible?" She asked, while her father looked at his hand, in shock as well.

Danny smirked. "There is something quite hard beneath the shirt," he responded teasingly.

"Show it!" Someone shouted.

The request, for some reason, was supported by many people in the crowd, mostly girls. Be it just a year ago, Phantom would have been on the seventh sky. Now, however, his stomach was empty, he had no place to run, and worst of all, he hadn't payed. Danny was relieved that at least Wendy wasn't one of the swooning girls, she was too busy comforting her father. Damn, the guy took his defeat hard, he ordered an industrial amount of ice cream. Danny knew where this was going.

"Sorry, guys, not gonna happen, so let me finally eat, okay?"

"Why? Do you have an embarrassing birthmark or something?"

"No. I just. Want. To eat. And where did you all come from?!" Phantom exclaimed in exasperation, seeing that the crowd was way too big.

'Oops,' a small voice sounded in his head.

If Danny could glare on the inside, which was gross, he certainly would have. He was going to choke that little bastard, even if he didn't have a neck. For now, he needed to worry about the crowd. But thank goodness he was saved by one redhead. Wendy appeared out of nowhere, pulling him out of his seat and on the street. No one even had time to react, even Danny.

"Geez, you are strong," he muttered, fixing his clothes and shoulder.

"So are you," Wendy crossed her hands. "So far you are the second on my 'certainly gets in troubles list'."

"Second?"

"You still have a long way to go after the twins. I think you should go before your new fans tear your skin."

"Great, now I am guilty in being strong. I still haven't paid," Danny dug into the wallet and took out the cash. "Give it to Suzan. I'm not entering that place anytime soon."

"Gotcha."

He was still hungry. Phantom just took a taco in one of the small shops and ate it. His digestive system could withstand anything.

When Stan found out about this, everything became worse. When the girls started pestering him, the old man saw an opportunity. An opportunity to attract more female customers. Danny couldn't feel more embarrassed, just sitting in the shop without a chance to escape. Afterwards he tried to avoid the sneaky old man, but the damage to his psychological health was done. Wendy seemed sympathetic and somewhat amused at his misfortune. Although she wasn't fanning like many around, she found that physical trait of his rather attractive, even if she didn't get to see it.

Dipper sometimes couldn't hide his smug smirk.

On one of his escapades Danny was forced to go to the town. In a small settlement the news spread quickly, and now he was famous as the one who defeated Manly Dan. Although the initial shock passed and the majority of the girls got over it quickly, Phantom still was forced to remain in the shop. So here he was, walking down the road, eating from a bag of chips, having an inner debate with his inner demon.

"I still think that that was uncalled for," Bill grumbled. "They put that chick in the movie just so she could be there and come at the last fight. Too OP in my opinion. And that phrase about 'now you have me' is just so ridiculous! She was absent for the most part.'

Danny shrugged. 'For once I agree. Although the rest of the story was nice, I think.'

'Pfft, half of the movie repeats what used to be. That's not what I expected from the last part. Curse you, Mickey Mouse!'

Phantom chuckled, before a gust of blue air escaped his mouth. He knew exactly who it was.

Meanwhile Dipper and Mabel were going through another street, nearby. The latter wanted to get ice cream and her brother decided to get one as well.

"Oh, I cannot wait to indulge myself in a caloric dream!" Mabel said excitedly.

"As long as you keep away from 'Smile Dip', I don't have objections," Dipper said dryly, shuddering at the memory of pink sand-like treat.

Suddenly they heard multiple explosions on a distance. The preteens did the most logical thing - run to it. They ran through the alley, before being greeted by a strange sight. The stark haired ghost was familiar to them, but they were nevertheless surprised to see him again. Phantom jumped from the hole in the glass he had made and leaped forward towards another being...a robot?

"Common, Skulker, I have been away for only a few weeks!" Danny exclaimed, before hurling a green blast.

"It won't stop me, whelp!"

The opponent of the teen ghost was covered in metal and black sleeveless shirt, with green eyes and mohawk hair. His right hand was replaced by a huge gun. The crowd around was screaming in terror and running away. Dipper wondered if that was the ghost. It didn't really fit the category. Phantom ducked away from the blast made by the ghost and leaped into the air.

"Dipper, we've got to help him!" Mabel exclaimed and grabbed her brother's shirt.

"Okay, okay! I just have to figure out what this is!" Dipper started to go through the list while looking up to determine the specie.

Phantom summoned a shield and blocked the shot. He yawned theatrically.

"Seriously, you know I am out of your league, pal."

Danny was bearing the hunter only because he wanted a little stretch of the muscles. Skulker was indeed weaker than the teen. But the stubbornness of his was as thick as his armor was. Quite literally. And Phantom knew that. But the people around had a misfortune to be caught in a crossfire. The stark haired ghost had to finish the fight quickly - both to get not as much attention and save the people. His obsession and moral would allow nothing less.

Danny charged more blasts and kept firing, but Skulker kept avoiding the shots. The robot-like ghost pressed a small button and several rocket launchers appeared. Phantom's eyes widened, before he ducked inside the ground. Several cars exploded after him, and the Pines twins were still out of range.

"Rockets?!" Dipper exclaimed, quickly turning the pages. It was ridiculous, none of the mentioned monsters used techs.

Skulker's eyes were covered by the green glasses. He wanted to see his prey even despite invisibility. It proved to be unneeded. He felt a tap on his back, before seeing Danny's innocent grinning expression. Phantom then clenched his fists and hit two shoulder rocket launchers. His strength was enough to puncture them and send sparks flying around.

"Get off me, whelp!" Skulker shouted, trying to reach behind his back, but Danny was too quick for him.

"Nnnnope."

Suddenly Phantom simply ripped off Skulker's hand.

"Need a helping hand?" Phantom laughed, tossing it away.

"How did you get so strong?!" Skulker exclaimed in shock.

"I had a lot of practice," Danny grinned toothily, before his hand glowed green again.

Skulker moved his head away and managed to flip the teen over by using his remaining hand and pin him to the ground with a loud crack, both of Danny's bones and the asphalt. The teen screamed in pain, but then his neon eyes blazed brighter. Double beams erupted from his eyes and...blasted the enemy's head off.

Both Dipper and Mabel gasped at the ruthless end, still peaking from behind the corner. The preteen boy started to look for the page of the spiritual beings, because the ghost was the ghost. Who knew what that white haired dude could do. Phantom meanwhile shakily got up, the wound making him wobbly. It would take a while to heal, he realized. How would he explain his wound to the others? He could do that later. For now, he had another concern.

"Hey, Phantom person!" Danny hid in the alleyway, heard a voice and flinched. He looked down and saw Mabel there. Not good.

"Hey," Phantom pulled on a smile, despite his unwillingness to talk.

"Mabel!" Dipper ran closer. "You know that you shouldn't..."

"It's fine, Dipper! He is a nice guy!" The girl said loudly, before gasping. "You are bleeding!" She exclaimed, pointing at Danny's side.

Phantom looked down. The hand he had put over the sore place was soaked in the green liquid. He cursed quietly, while Dipper memorized everything. He didn't know the ghosts could bleed.

"Yeah...don't worry about it. I'm already dead, nothing would happen. That's what you get for underestimating the enemy. A lesson for my arrogant part."

"You don't seem like you are okay."

"I'm FINE," Danny all but snapped. "I'll heal by the next morning. I just need some peaceful time alone."

"You can stay with us," Mabel immediately offered.

"MABEL!" Dipper exclaimed. "He is..."

"A ghost?" Phantom's eyes flashed brightly. "Didn't take you as the racist, kid. I have met enough prejudice because of that."

He was truthful. The kid really pissed him off. Dipper looked down in shame. To tell the truth, yeah, he did sound racist. Could you blame him? All his experiences with the ghosts ended badly. Not to mention the spiritual beings at large.

'Oh, goodness, DP,' Bill said in the ghost's head. 'Look at him, he looks like he has been caught with a cookie,' he laughed. 'That's why I love you, buddy. Although it may not end well for ya.'

"Fine, you can stay," Dipper said, looking away.

"Hey, I said that I don't need to. I'll just...go."

With that Phantom turned invisible and flew away. He had to get the medicaments first, he had some in his bag, as he had bought them beforehand for such occasions. And that had to be done before the twins returned. Danny saw the Mystery Shack approaching. He landed in his room and changed form, becoming visible. Sighing, Phantom took a look at himself, his T-shirt had blood spots.

"Damn it, I hope I've taken spare ones," Danny mumbled, before taking the shirt off.

His bare torso was entirely covered in a network of scars, big and small. Most of them were light, not so vibrant and thick, however some stretched on the relatively long distances, had a vivid crimson color. Three huge claw marks went across his back. It was a miracle he was still standing. The amount of scars couldn't be compatible with life. But Danny managed to retain half of it.

Phantom took a roll of wrappings from the bag and used them for their purpose. He wrapped them under his shoulders, where the main source was, just like in the middle left side. He didn't need alcohol, because he was immune to infections. Danny took the black shirt in his hands and was about to put it on, when he heard a voice.

"Dipper! Mabel! Where are you...guys." Wendy froze as she saw him standing in his room.

Phantom really should have closed the door.


End file.
